Silver-copper-zinc compositions are employed as catalysts, e.g., for fuel cell and/or electrolyzer applications. These compositions have been experimentally tested in solid oxide fuel cell and proton exchange membrane fuel cell configurations. Such catalysts can be effective for both the anode and cathode half-reactions. A preferred composition range is AgxCuyZnz, where 0≦x≦0.1, 0.2≦y≦0.5, and 0.5≦z≦0.8.