Examples of card brands include which of the following?

Visa and MasterCard are indeed considered card brands because they represent the payment networks that facilitate transactions made with their branded credit and debit cards. These brands provide the infrastructure for processing payments and set the standards for their use. They are recognizable globally and are integral to electronic payment systems.

In contrast, the other options listed consist of entities that do not operate as card brands. PayPal and Venmo are payment services and platforms rather than card issuers or networks. HSBC and Bank of America are financial institutions that may issue cards but do not serve as brands themselves in the context of payment networks. Amazon and Target are retail companies and although they may offer branded cards, they are not card brands in the financial sense. Thus, Visa and MasterCard are the correct answers as they are widely recognized as key players in the card payment ecosystem.