The Bitcoin network is able to process more transactions every second than today.  This condition, however, is not yet fully equipped to handle a transaction size as large as the credit card network.  Development is being made to overcome existing limitations and what will be needed for them in the future.  Since its inception, every aspect of the Bitcoin network is in the process of continuing to grow in maturity, optimization and specialization and these conditions are expected to continue over the next few years.  As traffic grows, more and more Bitcoin users are using light capacity clients and full network nodes can become increasingly specialized services.