Twitter shares are surging after a Mastercard exec discussed a potential partnership

Twitter's stock is up sharply following comments by a Mastercard executive about the financial company's interest in partnering with Twitter.

Mastercard's president of international markets said the company sees social networking services such as Twitter and Facebook as potential partners in Silicon Valley, according to a CNBC report. Twitter's Buy Now button, which allows users of the service to quickly make a transaction by clicking on a button embedded in a tweet, is apparently of partiular interest.

Shares of Twitter, which have been battered in recent months over concerns about its stagnating user growth, popped 8% to $17.26 on Monday.

The comments seem like more of a reflection that Mastercard is interested in working with tech companies rather than a hint that an actual deal is in the works. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is also the CEO of Square, an electronics payment company that in some ways competes with Mastercard.

"I think the way we would work with them is just the way we work with the other tech giants, we would figure out what we can do together, where our network could play into their space and connect up," Mastercard's Ann Cairns said in an interview with CNBC at a financial technology conference in Copenhagen.