Financials · NYSE: V
Visa: how the business works
Visa runs the payment network that connects banks, stores and card holders, with net revenue of $45.9 billion in FY2026 (unaudited).
By Hardik Bhandare · Checked against filings:
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Visa Inc. · San Francisco Bay Area, California · Founded 1958
Last updated
- Net revenue, FY2026 (unaudited)
- $45.9B
- Operating income, FY2026 (unaudited)
- $28.1B
- Net income, FY2026 (unaudited)
- $23.5B
- Financial institution clients, FY2025
- Nearly 14,500
- Employees, FY2025
- About 34,100
The short version
Visa in 5 points
1 · What it sells
Visa runs a payment network that moves money between banks for card and account payments, with net revenue of $45.9 billion in FY2026 (unaudited), and it does not issue cards or lend.
2 · Who pays it
Visa does not disclose revenue by type of payer; of FY2026 gross revenue (unaudited), data processing was 36.4%, service 31.0%, international transactions 23.7% and other 8.8%.
3 · What it keeps from $100
Of every $100 that came in during FY2026 (unaudited), Visa kept $50.4 as net income, after a $1,764 million litigation provision, $563 million of severance and a $282 million donation and with a $314 million deferred tax benefit; operating income was $61.2 per $100 of net revenue.
4 · Where the operating profit comes from
Visa reports one segment, Payment Services, so it gives no split of its $28.1 billion of FY2026 operating income (unaudited) by product or region.
5 · The one thing to watch
Client incentives took $28.5 of every $100 of gross revenue in FY2026 (unaudited), up from $25.8 in FY2021.
Sources: From Visa's FY2025 10-K and Oct 27, 2026 earnings release (FY2026 unaudited) · checked
See the full receipt and the management scorecard below
01Where the money goes · FY2026 (unaudited)
Where does $100 of Visa's money go?
Visa · FY2026 (unaudited)
Receipt for every $100
| Personnel | $17.0 |
|---|---|
| Marketing | $5.0 |
| Network, fees, admin, depreciation | $12.4 |
| Litigation provision | $3.8 |
| Interest | $1.6 |
| Income tax | $9.8 |
| Kept as net income | $50.4 |
| Total | $100 |
Each line = amount ÷ total money in × 100. Lines may not add to exactly $100 because of rounding.
How this is worked out
Cityfort calculation from Q4 FY2026 earnings release. Of every $100 that came in during FY2026 (net revenue plus investment income and other): each line = line ÷ $46.6 billion × 100. Client incentives are already taken out of net revenue.
Each week: one company explained in 5 points, picked by earnings date.
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02The business in one line
What does Visa do?
Financial institutions and other clients pay Visa fees to use its network; it pays part back as incentives, staff is its largest cost, and about half of what comes in stays as net income.
- Visa's FY2026 gross revenue (unaudited) was $64.2 billion in four categories: data processing 36.4%, service 31.0%, international transactions 23.7% and other 8.8%.
- Client incentives took $18.3 billion of that, leaving net revenue of $45.9 billion. Operating income was $61.2 per $100 of net revenue.
03Who pays it
Who pays Visa?
Card-issuing financial institutions
Not disclosed
Banks and others that issue Visa products to account holders and pay Visa for using its network. Share not disclosed.
Acquiring financial institutions
Not disclosed
Institutions that sign up stores and handle their card payments. Visa sets its fees to them separately from what they charge stores. Share not disclosed.
Other clients
Not disclosed
Digital banks, digital wallets, fintech companies, sellers and governments that use Visa's network or services. Share not disclosed.
Customer concentration
Visa does not disclose revenue by type of payer. Its revenue categories show what fees are for, not who pays them. One unnamed client was 11% of net revenue in each of FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025. By location of the issuing or acquiring institution, FY2025 net revenue was 39.1% U.S. and 60.9% international.
- Largest customer
- 11%
04Why it makes money
Why does Visa make money?
More cards and more stores bring more payments, and Visa earns fees on them.
Network and processing cost $1.1 billion in FY2026 (unaudited), against net revenue of $45.9 billion. Operating income was $61.2 per $100 of net revenue, after a litigation provision of $3.8 per $100. In FY2021 it was $65.6, when the provision was $3 million.
Operating income per $100 of net revenue
$65.6$61.2
FY2021 to FY2026 (unaudited)
- Financial institutions issue Visa products to account holders
- Acquirers sign up stores to accept them
- Payments run on VisaNet
- Visa earns service, processing and cross-border fees
- Visa pays incentives to grow volume and acceptance
- More volume and more clients add to the fees
↺ Step 6 feeds back into step 1.
05Business segments · FY2026, unaudited; gross revenue categories
Which businesses make up Visa?
Data processing
36%Visa reports one segment, Payment Services, so there is no profit split. These are gross revenue categories, before $18.3 billion of client incentives. This one covers approving, clearing and settling payments, network access and some value-added services.
Revenue $23.4B
Service
31%Fees for clients' use of Visa's payment services, assessed mainly on the previous quarter's payments volume.
Revenue $19.9B
International transactions
24%Fees for processing cross-border payments and converting currencies.
Revenue $15.3B
Other
9%Mainly advisory and certain issuing services, license fees for the Visa brand or technology, and account holder services.
Revenue $5.7B
How the mix changed
- Data processing
- Service
- International transactions
- Other
Revenue by segment, FY2021 to FY2026.
US$
See the numbers
06The numbers · Consolidated · US$
How has Visa done?
Revenue
$45.9BFY2026
Net revenue rose every year, from $24.1 billion in FY2021 to $45.9 billion in FY2026 (unaudited).
US$
See the numbers
Net profit
$23.5BFY2026
Net income rose from $12.3 billion in FY2021 to $23.5 billion in FY2026 (unaudited); it grew 1.6% in FY2025, when the litigation provision was $2.6 billion.
US$
See the numbers
Profit kept per $100 of revenue
$51.2FY2026
Net income per $100 of net revenue was $51.2 in FY2026 (unaudited) and $50.1 in FY2025, down from $55.0 in FY2024.
$ of profit per $100 of revenue (net margin)
See the numbers
Free cash flow
$22.1BFY2026
Cash from operations minus capital spending was $22.1 billion in FY2026 (unaudited); cash from operations in FY2026 and FY2025 includes $1.9 billion a year paid for clean energy tax credits.
US$ · cash from operations minus spending on plants and equipment
See the numbers
See all yearly numbers
EBITDA here = operating income plus depreciation and amortization (from the cash flow statement). Fiscal years are the company's own (Sep 30; Q4 FY2026 is July–September 2026. FY2026 is unaudited, as reported in the Oct 27, 2026 earnings release, because the Form 10-K is not yet filed. FY2025 is the last audited year.). Net profit is the share belonging to the company's owners.
Learn: Fiscal years that don't end in December: Nvidia's FY2027 explained · Stock-based compensation and dilution: pay that becomes shares
07Who runs it
Who runs Visa, and did they deliver?
Ryan McInerney
Chief Executive Officer and Director · since 2023
Appointed Feb 1, 2023. FY2025 total pay was $31,560,660; the median employee's was $154,909, a ratio of 204 to 1.
Chris Suh
Chief Financial Officer · since 2023
Joined in July 2023. Earlier CFO of Electronic Arts, and before that at Microsoft.
Rajat Taneja
President, Technology
Julie B. Rottenberg
General Counsel
Bill Ready
Director · since 2025
Joined the board on Sep 29, 2025.
What they said, and what happened
1 delivered · 3 too early to tell
Said on Jul 28, 2026
Management said it expected Q4 FY2026 adjusted constant-dollar net revenue growth in the high end of low double digits, operating expense growth in the low double digits and EPS growth in the low end of mid-teens.
DeliveredWhat happened
Visa reported Q4 FY2026 adjusted constant-dollar growth of 12% in net revenue, 11% in operating expenses and 16% in EPS.
Said on Oct 28, 2025
Management said it expected FY2026 adjusted constant-dollar net revenue growth in the low double digits.
Too early to tellWhat happened
Visa reported FY2026 growth (unaudited) of 15%, or 14% in constant dollars. The adjusted full-year figure, the guidance basis, is not in the release, so the two are not compared here.
Said on Apr 28, 2026
Management raised its FY2026 adjusted constant-dollar net revenue growth expectation to low double digits to low teens.
Too early to tellWhat happened
On Jul 28, 2026 management narrowed this to the low end of low teens. The adjusted full-year result is not in the Oct 27, 2026 release.
Said on Oct 27, 2026
Visa said it expected to close its $2.4 billion purchase of BioCatch by the end of Q2 FY2027, subject to regulatory approvals.
Too early to tellWhat happened
The Oct 27, 2026 release describes the deal as agreed and not yet closed.
08What could go wrong
What could go wrong for Visa?
- Regulation
Rules on card fees and routing
US debit interchange is capped, and a North Dakota and a Kentucky court split on that cap. The Credit Card Competition Act was introduced in 2022 and 2023. Visa's FY2025 10-K (Nov 6, 2025) says it may be reintroduced. CEO Ryan McInerney said of it on Jan 29, 2026: "It's very harmful and it's just simply not needed." The EU and Latin American markets also cap fees.
Watch New caps or routing rules in the regulation section of the 10-K.
- Legal
Antitrust suits and settlements
The Department of Justice alleges debit monopolization, and merchants have sued over interchange. Litigation provisions were $2,562 million in FY2025 and $1,764 million in FY2026 (unaudited). Visa put the estimated interchange fees at issue in unresolved US damages claims at about $39.4 billion at Oct 1, 2025, down from $49.6 billion at Oct 1, 2023.
Watch Final approval of the interchange settlement, the Department of Justice suit, and the litigation provision each quarter.
- Concentration
Client incentives and large clients
Client incentives took $28.5 of every $100 of gross revenue in FY2026 (unaudited), up from $25.8 in FY2021. One unnamed client was 11% of FY2025 net revenue. Management said on Jul 28, 2026 that about 20% of payments volume would have renewed by fiscal yearThe company's own 12-month year, which may not end in December. Learn more end.
Watch Client incentives against gross revenue in each quarterly release.
- Competition
Other ways to pay
Visa says it competes with cash, checks, other card networks, bank-to-bank and real-time payments, digital wallets and stablecoin platforms. Stores are also pushing to lower what they pay to accept cards.
Watch Payments volume and processed transactions growth in each release.
- Technology
Network outage or breach
Visa processed 281.3 billion transactions in FY2026 (unaudited) and names a network outage or data breach as a risk. Privacy and AI laws add compliance obligations.
Watch Disclosed incidents in 8-Ks and the 10-K's risk factors.
- Governance
Share classes and voting
Class B, class C and preferred shares convert into class A. Visa says those conversions dilute class A votes and could affect the price, and that their holders' interests may differ on certain significant transactions. At Jun 30, 2026, shares as converted were 1,880 million against 1,702 million class A.
Watch Exchange offers, escrow deposits and the as-converted share count in each 10-Q.
- Demand
International reach and government limits
International revenue, by location of the issuing or acquiring institution, was 60.9% of FY2025 net revenue, and cross-border fees were $15.3 billion of gross revenue in FY2026 (unaudited). Visa names China and India as markets where government measures restrict competition.
Watch Cross-border volume growth and new local payment rules.
- Execution
Acquisitions still being absorbed
Visa paid $946 million for Featurespace in December 2024 and $1.5 billion for Prisma and Newpay in February 2026, a deal under Argentine competition review. It agreed to pay $2.4 billion for BioCatch, subject to regulatory approvals.
Watch BioCatch's closing and the Argentine review.
09Both sides
What do supporters and critics point to?
What supporters point to
- Net revenue rose every year, from $24.1 billion in FY2021 to $45.9 billion in FY2026 (unaudited).
- Operating income was $61.2 per $100 of net revenue in FY2026 (unaudited).
- Value-added services revenue grew from $7.2 billion in FY2023 to $10.9 billion in FY2025.
- Visa's 10-K shows $13,433 billion of payments volume in calendar 2024, against Mastercard's $8,014 billion.
- Repurchases and dividends were $25.6 billion in FY2026 (unaudited), and the quarterly dividend rose 16% to $0.78.
What critics point to
- The Department of Justice sued Visa in September 2024, alleging debit monopolization; a motion to dismiss was denied on Jun 23, 2025.
- Litigation provisions were $2,562 million in FY2025 and $1,764 million in FY2026 (unaudited).
- Client incentives rose from $25.8 to $28.5 per $100 of gross revenue between FY2021 and FY2026 (unaudited).
- Free cash flow per $100 of net revenue was $48.1 in FY2026 (unaudited), down from $60.2 in FY2021.
- Repurchases plus dividends were 115.9% of free cash flow in FY2026 (unaudited).
10What to watch next
What should you watch next at Visa?
Next event
Q1 FY2027 results
Date not announced yet.
The FY2026 Form 10-K
FY2026 on this page is unaudited. The 10-K adds audited figures, full-year geography, payments volume and as-converted shares. The FY2025 10-K came on Nov 6, 2025.
Interchange settlement and the Department of Justice suit
The motion for final approval of the settlement was filed on Jul 15, 2026. A motion to dismiss the Department of Justice suit was denied on Jun 23, 2025.
Client incentives
They took $28.5 of every $100 of gross revenue in FY2026 (unaudited), and each quarterly release shows the new figure.
11Key facts
Key facts about Visa
- What is Visa's business model?
- Visa runs a payment network, VisaNet, that connects card holders, stores and their banks, and it earned net revenue of $45.9 billion in FY2026 (unaudited). Visa does not issue cards or lend money.
- How does Visa make money?
- Visa makes money from fees for using its network. In FY2026 (unaudited), Visa's gross revenue was $64.2 billion; client incentives took $18.3 billion, leaving net revenue of $45.9 billion.
- Is Visa profitable?
- Yes. Visa reported net income of $23.5 billion and operating income of $28.1 billion on net revenue of $45.9 billion in FY2026 (unaudited). In FY2025, the last audited year, net income was $20.1 billion.
- What is Visa's revenue by segment?
- Visa reports one segment, Payment Services, so it gives no segment split. Visa's FY2026 gross revenue (unaudited) was $23.4 billion data processing, $19.9 billion service, $15.3 billion international transactions and $5.7 billion other.
- Who are Visa's customers?
- Visa's clients in FY2025 included nearly 14,500 financial institutions, and Visa does not disclose revenue by type of client. One unnamed client was 11% of Visa's FY2025 net revenue.
- Who owns Visa?
- Visa's class A shares trade on the NYSE. Vanguard Capital Management reported 7.35% of class A at Mar 31, 2026, and Visa's 17 directors and executive officers as a group beneficially owned no more than 1% at Dec 1, 2025.
- What is Visa's data processing revenue?
- Visa's data processing revenue was $23.4 billion in FY2026 (unaudited) and $20.0 billion in FY2025. It covers approving, clearing and settling payments, plus network access and some value-added services.
- What is Visa's service revenue?
- Visa's service revenue was $19.9 billion in FY2026 (unaudited) and $17.5 billion in FY2025. Visa assesses it mainly on the previous quarter's payments volume.
- What is Visa's international transaction revenue?
- Visa's international transaction revenue was $15.3 billion in FY2026 (unaudited) and $14.2 billion in FY2025. It comes from processing cross-border payments and converting currencies.
- How much does Visa earn from value-added services?
- Visa's value-added services revenue was $10.9 billion in FY2025, up from $8.8 billion in FY2024. These services include fraud tools and advisory work, and sit inside other revenue lines.
Go deeper
More detail from the same filings. Open any section.
12What it sells
12What it sells
What does Visa sell?
Consumer payments
Credit, debit, prepaid and cash access products that clients issue to their account holders. There were 5.2 billion Visa cards at Jun 30, 2026.
Commercial and money movement solutions
Cards for businesses, and money transfers such as Visa Direct. Visa Direct handled 4 billion transactions in Q3 FY2026, up 21%.
Value-added services
Fraud tools, advisory work, and services for card issuers and stores. Revenue was $10.9 billion in FY2025 and $10.3 billion in the first nine months of FY2026.
Think of it like this
Like a toll road for payments: Visa earns fees as payments travel its network, without lending the money being spent.
What it does
- Does: Approves, clears and settles payments between financial institutions
- Does: Processes cross-border payments and converts currencies
- Does: Sells fraud, advisory and other value-added services
- Does: Licenses the Visa brand and technology
What it does not do
- Does not: Does not issue cards, extend credit, or set rates and fees for card holders
- Does not: Does not earn revenue from those activities or bear credit risk on them
- Does not: Does not keep interchange: these fees generally pass from the store's bank to the card holder's bank, though Visa sets default rates
13How the money flows
13How the money flows · FY2026 (unaudited)
How does money flow through Visa?
Money in
- Net revenue (gross revenue of $64.2B minus client incentives of $18.3B)$45.9B
- Investment income and other$741M
The company
Visa
$46.6B came in
Money out
- Personnel$7.9B
- Marketing$2.3B
- Network, professional fees, admin, depreciation and amortization$5.8B
- Litigation provision$1.8B
- Interest expense$758M
- Income tax$4.6B
- Net income$23.5B
- Visa's gross revenue was $64.2 billion in FY2026 (unaudited).
- Client incentives took $18.3 billion, leaving net revenue of $45.9 billion. Investment income and other added $0.7 billion.
- Personnel cost $7.9 billion and marketing $2.3 billion.
- Network, professional fees, admin and depreciation took $5.8 billion. A litigation provision took $1.8 billion.
- After $0.8 billion of interest and $4.6 billion of tax, $23.5 billion was left as net income.
14What it needs to run
14What it needs to run
What does Visa need to run?
VisaNet and its data centers
Four global data centers in the U.S., the UK and Singapore at Sep 30, 2025. Visa processed 281.3 billion transactions in FY2026 (unaudited).
Clients and places that accept Visa
Nearly 14,500 financial institution clients, nearly 5 billion payment credentials and more than 175 million merchant locations, using Jun 30, 2025 data.
People
About 34,100 employees in FY2025, up from 31,600 in FY2024. Personnel cost $7.9 billion in FY2026 (unaudited).
Brand and sponsorships
Sponsorships include the IOC, IPC, NFL, FIFA World Cup 2026 and Red Bull F1 teams. Marketing cost $2.3 billion in FY2026 (unaudited).
15Where it sells
15Where it sells · FY2025, the last audited year; FY2026 awaits the 10-K
Where does Visa sell?
- United States39%
- International61%
16Competitors and what protects it
16Competitors and what protects it
Who does Visa compete with?
Mastercard
Global card network: $8,014 billion of payments volume, 204 billion transactions and 3,146 million cards in calendar 2024.
American Express
Global card network: $1,750 billion of payments volume, 12 billion transactions and 147 million cards in calendar 2024.
JCB
Global card network: $319 billion of payments volume, 7 billion transactions and 167 million cards in calendar 2024.
Diners Club/Discover
Global card network, now owned by Capital One: $253 billion of payments volume, 4 billion transactions and 72 million cards in calendar 2024.
UnionPay
Named by Visa as a competitor; it is not in the 10-K's comparison table.
What protects the business
Each strength is scored 1 (weak) to 5 (strong) for the business, with the reason. It is not a rating of the share.
- Size of the network5 of 5
Visa's 10-K shows $13,433 billion of payments volume and 4,805 million cards in calendar 2024, against Mastercard's $8,014 billion and 3,146 million.
- Transaction processing4 of 5
Visa processed 281.3 billion transactions in FY2026 (unaudited), up 9%, and had four global data centers at Sep 30, 2025.
- Cross-border payments4 of 5
International transaction revenue was $15.3 billion in FY2026 (unaudited). Cross-border volume outside intra-Europe grew 14% in constant dollars in Q4 FY2026.
- Value-added services3 of 5
Revenue grew from $7.2 billion in FY2023 to $10.9 billion in FY2025, and was $10.3 billion in the first nine months of FY2026.
Weak spot
Rules on card fees
US debit interchange is capped at 21 cents plus 0.05%, plus a possible 1 cent for fraud prevention. EU caps are 0.30% on consumer credit and 0.20% on consumer debit. Visa's 10-K names global regulation and interchange scrutiny as risks.
17Where growth could come from
17Where growth could come from
Where could Visa's growth come from?
Visa said on Oct 27, 2026 that it expects, on a GAAP nominal-dollar basis, FY2027 net revenue growth in the low double digits, operating expenses down a mid-single-digit percentage and EPS growth in the low twenties. On its non-GAAPThe company's own "adjusted" numbers, not the official (GAAP) ones. Always read them next to the official figure. Learn more adjusted constant-dollar basis, it expects net revenue and operating expense growth in the low double digits, and EPS growth in the low double digits to low teens.
Value-added services
Working$10.3B in 9M FY2026
Revenue was $10.3 billion in the nine months to Jun 30, 2026, up from $7.8 billion a year earlier. The Q4 FY2026 release gives no figure.
Status: Working, on track against what the company said.
Commercial and money movement
Working+17% in Q3 FY2026
Management said on the Jul 28, 2026 call that this revenue grew 17% in constant dollars in Q3 FY2026. Visa Direct transactions grew 21% to 4 billion.
Status: Working, on track against what the company said.
Cross-border payments
Working+14% in Q4 FY2026
Cross-border volume outside intra-Europe grew 14% in constant dollars in Q4 FY2026, up from 12% in Q3 FY2026.
Status: Working, on track against what the company said.
Stablecoin settlement
Early$7B run rate, Apr 2026
Management said on the Apr 28, 2026 call that stablecoin settlement ran at $7 billion a year, on nine blockchains. On Jan 29, 2026 it had said $4.6 billion.
Status: Early, too early to judge.
Acquisitions
New$2.4B BioCatch, agreed
Visa bought Prisma and Newpay in Argentina in February 2026 for $1.5 billion in cash. It agreed on Aug 3, 2026 to buy BioCatch, a fraud-detection company, for $2.4 billion in cash.
Status: New, recently announced.
Status compares progress with what the company itself said it would do: Working = on track against what the company said; Mixed = partly on track; Behind = behind the company's own plan; New = recently announced; Early = too early to judge.
18The company's own measures (non-GAAP)
18The company's own measures · FY2025 and FY2026 (FY2026 unaudited)
What do Visa's own measures show?
Official (GAAP): Net income, FY2026
$23.5B
Company's own measure: Non-GAAP net income, FY2026
$25.3B
Visa leaves out equity investment gains and losses, acquired-intangible amortization, acquisition costs, significant litigation provisions, severance, lease consolidation, charitable contributions and one-time tax items. FY2026 before tax: litigation $1,724 million, severance $563 million, donation $282 million; deferred tax benefit $314 million after tax.
Official (GAAP): Diluted EPS, class A, FY2026
$12.32
Company's own measure: Non-GAAP diluted EPS, FY2026
$13.27
The same exclusions as non-GAAP net income.
Official (GAAP): Total operating expenses, FY2026
$17.8B
Company's own measure: Non-GAAP operating expenses, FY2026
$14.9B
The same exclusions, applied to operating costs.
Official (GAAP): Net income, FY2025
$20.1B
Company's own measure: Non-GAAP net income, FY2025
$22.5B
The same definition. GAAP net income grew 1.6% in FY2025; the non-GAAP figure grew 11%.
Official (GAAP): Diluted EPS, class A, FY2025
$10.20
Company's own measure: Non-GAAP diluted EPS, FY2025
$11.47
The same definition.
Official (GAAP): Reported net revenue growth, FY2026
15.0%
Company's own measure: Net revenue growth in constant dollars, FY2026
14.0%
Visa removes the effect of exchange-rate changes.
Official (GAAP)
No official figure measures this; it is the company's own operating measure.
Company's own measure: Processed transactions, FY2026
281.3 billion
Transactions processed by Visa, up 9% in FY2026. Net revenue for the same year was $45.9 billion.
Official (GAAP)
No official figure measures this; it is the company's own operating measure.
Company's own measure: Payments volume, 12 months to Jun 30, 2025
13,894 billion dollars
Nominal payments volume, which excludes cash and Europe co-badged volume. Visa assesses service revenue on the previous quarter's volume, so the two do not line up by period.
These are the company's own measures, defined by the company. They are not comparable across companies, and they are not added together. Each sits beside the nearest official (GAAP) figure.
Sources
Earnings release, Q4 and full-year FY2026 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1); Form 10-K, fiscal year 2025 (ended Sep 30, 2025); Earnings release, Q4 and full-year FY2025 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
Learn: Non-GAAP measures: what a company's "adjusted" numbers leave out
19Financial strength and debt
19Financial strength · Sep 30, 2026
How much debt does Visa have?
- Total debt$22.1B
- Cash and investments$14.2B
- Net debt (debt minus cash)$7.9B
- Net worth (shareholders' money)$36.1B
- Debt to equity
- 0.61×
- $ of debt for every $1 of shareholders' money
- Sep 30, 2026 figures are unaudited, from the Oct 27, 2026 earnings release. Net debt is a Cityfort calculation from Q4 FY2026 earnings release: total debt minus cash and cash equivalents ($12.9 billion) and investment securities ($1.2 billion).
- Restricted cash in the US litigation escrow ($628 million) is not counted as cash. Accrued litigation was $990 million, down from $3,033 million a year earlier.
- Lease liabilities ($913 million at Sep 30, 2025) are outside total debt.
- Visa offered $3.0 billion of new notes in February 2026 and repaid $5.6 billion of debt in FY2026 (unaudited).
20Who owns it
20Who owns it · ownership as of Dec 1, 2025
Who owns Visa?
- Officers and directors (as a group), shares
- 0.1%
Share classes
Holders of 5% or more
From the company's proxy statement (DEF 14A), later Schedule 13G filings and the share counts on its latest annual or quarterly report. Each holder row shows the date of its own filing.
Sources
Earnings release, Q4 and full-year FY2026 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1); Earnings release, Q2 FY2026 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1); Form 10-Q, Q3 FY2026 (quarter ended Jun 30, 2026) and 6 more
Learn: Dual-class shares: when votes and ownership don't match · How to read a proxy statement (DEF 14A): Nvidia's 2026 proxy · Form 4 insider filings: who files, the codes and the footnotes
21What it does with profit
21What it does with profit
What does Visa do with its profit?
Dividend per share
$2.68FY2026 (unaudited)
Dividend paid for each share, by financial year.
$ per share
See the numbers
Buyback · Sep 30, 2026
FY2026 (unaudited): about 61 million class A shares at an average of $335.49. Authorization of $24.4 billion was left at Sep 30, 2026.
$20.5B
Buyback · Sep 30, 2025
FY2025: repurchases of class A shares.
$18.3B
Buyback · Sep 30, 2024
FY2024: repurchases of class A shares.
$16.7B
Money raised · Feb 3, 2026
Offered $3.0 billion of senior notes due 2029 to 2036.
$3.0B
Money raised · Sep 30, 2025
FY2025: senior notes issued.
$3.9B
22Governance signals
22Governance signals
What do Visa's governance filings show?
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP, since 2007
- Auditor changes
- None in the period covered
- Audit qualifications
- None reported
- Related-party dealings
- The Audit and Risk Committee reviews related person transactions under a written policy. The proxy notes that BlackRock's affiliates received about $244,000 in 2025 for pension plan investment services, in the ordinary course of business.
- Credit rating
- No public credit rating found
Flags to know about
regulatory · Sep 24, 2024
US Department of Justice antitrust suit
The Department of Justice sued Visa on Sep 24, 2024 under the Sherman Act, alleging debit monopolization. A motion to dismiss was denied on Jun 23, 2025. The FY2026 10-Qs report no later development. Debit class actions followed, with amended complaints on Feb 27, 2026.
regulatory · Jul 15, 2026
US merchant interchange litigation
Merchant antitrust suits over interchange fees (MDL 1720) have run since 2005. A settlement with the Injunctive Relief Class received preliminary approval on Jun 9, 2026; the motion for final approval was filed on Jul 15, 2026. Visa has settled with merchants representing about 95% of opt-out sales volume.
regulatory · Mar 17, 2026
UK and European interchange claims
On Mar 17, 2026 the UK Court of Appeal granted Visa permission to appeal the Competition Appeal Tribunal's June 2025 decision that certain interchange rates restrict competition. Since 2013 more than 1,200 merchants have brought claims alleging anti-competitive conduct; over 950 have settled and over 100 are outstanding.
other · Sep 18, 2026
US litigation escrow
Visa deposited $500 million in December 2025, $125 million in February 2026, $250 million in June 2026 and $405 million in September 2026. Visa says the plan is meant to insulate the company and class A holders from financial liability for certain litigation cases. Provisions still reduce GAAP net income; non-GAAP excludes them.
other · Jun 9, 2026
Pre-arranged share sale plans
Rule 10b5-1 plansAn insider's trading plan, set up in advance, that buys or sells shares on a schedule. Learn more adopted in May and June 2026: Ryan McInerney up to 101,959 shares including option shares, Rajat Taneja 61,726 and Julie B. Rottenberg 9,656.
other
Insider share policy
Visa's insider trading policy bars employees and directors from hedging Visa shares or using them as collateral for a loan.
disclosure · Oct 27, 2026
FY2026 Form 10-K not yet filed
FY2026 figures here are unaudited, from the Oct 27, 2026 release. Full-year geography, payments volume dollars, value-added services revenue and as-converted shares await the 10-K. The FY2025 10-K was filed on Nov 6, 2025.
disclosure
No split by payer or by segment profit
Visa reports one segment and gives no revenue split by type of payer, and no profit split by product or region.
23What the market paid
23What the market paid · price as of Oct 30, 2026
What did the market pay for Visa on Oct 30, 2026?
Price as of Oct 30, 2026 (shown for education; prices change daily).
Price as of Oct 30, 2026: Visa closed at $413.59, from Nasdaq's historical price table for V; the shares are listed on the NYSE. Market value of about $714.7 billion (Cityfort calculation from the Oct 30, 2026 closing price and the Q4 FY2026 earnings release) = $413.59 × 1,728 million class A shares (Sep 30, 2026). Counting other classes as if converted gives about $777.5 billion (Cityfort calculation from the Oct 30, 2026 closing price and the Q3 FY2026 10-Q), using 1,880 million shares at an earlier date, Jun 30, 2026. P/E is price ÷ earnings per share: 33.6 on FY2026 diluted class A EPS of $12.32 (unaudited). Dividend yield is 0.75%: $0.78 × 4 = $3.12 a year ÷ the price.
- Share price
- $413.59
- Market value (market cap)
- $714.7B
- P/E
- 33.6×
Source: V historical daily prices (close on Oct 30, 2026); Earnings release, Q4 and full-year FY2026 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1); Form 10-Q, Q3 FY2026 (quarter ended Jun 30, 2026)
24How it got here
24How it got here
How did Visa get here?
1958
Milestone
Early days
Visa dates its work on commerce and money movement to 1958.
2022
Business-model change
Tink purchase
Visa bought Tink, an open banking platform, adding bank-to-bank payments. Acquisitions took $1,948 million in FY2022.
2023
Milestone
New CEO
Ryan McInerney became CEO on Feb 1, 2023.
2024
Crisis
Department of Justice suit
The Department of Justice sued Visa on Sep 24, 2024, alleging debit monopolization.
2024
Business-model change
Pismo and Featurespace
Visa completed the Pismo purchase in FY2024 and bought Featurespace, a fraud-prevention company, for $946 million in December 2024.
2025
Crisis
Large litigation provision
The FY2025 litigation provision was $2,562 million, up from $462 million. Net income grew 1.6% while net revenue grew 11.3%.
2026
Milestone
Prisma and Newpay
Visa bought Prisma and Newpay in Argentina for $1.5 billion in cash in February 2026.
2026
Business-model change
Share exchange offer
In May 2026 Visa accepted 3 million class B-1 and 120 million class B-2 shares, and issued 61 million class B-3 and 23 million class C shares.
2026
Milestone
Severance charge
Q3 FY2026 personnel cost included $563 million of severance.
25Sources and changes
Where every number on this page comes from
Sources (32 documents)
- S1Form 10-K, fiscal year 2025 (ended Sep 30, 2025) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Nov 6, 2025
- S3Form 10-K, fiscal year 2023 (ended Sep 30, 2023) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Nov 15, 2023
- S6Form 10-Q, Q3 FY2026 (quarter ended Jun 30, 2026) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Jul 29, 2026
- S12Earnings release, Q4 and full-year FY2026 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Oct 27, 2026
- S13Earnings release, Q3 FY2026 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Jul 28, 2026
- S14Earnings release, Q2 FY2026 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Apr 28, 2026
- S15Earnings release, Q1 FY2026 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Jan 29, 2026
- S16Earnings release, Q4 and full-year FY2025 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Oct 28, 2025
- S17Earnings release, Q3 FY2025 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Jul 29, 2025
- S18Earnings release, Q2 FY2025 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Apr 29, 2025
- S19Earnings release, Q1 FY2025 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Jan 30, 2025
- S20Earnings release, Q4 and full-year FY2024 (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Oct 29, 2024
- S21Proxy statement (DEF 14A) for the January 27, 2026 annual meeting · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Dec 8, 2025
- S22Schedule 13G, Vanguard Capital Management (event date Mar 31, 2026) · Vanguard Capital Management (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Apr 30, 2026
- S23Schedule 13G/A, The Vanguard Group (event date Mar 13, 2026) · The Vanguard Group (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Mar 27, 2026
- S24Form S-4, class B-1 and B-2 exchange offer · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Mar 5, 2026
- S25Form 8-K: exchange offer expiration and results (Item 7.01) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · May 11, 2026
- S26Form 8-K: exchange offer settled; Makewhole Agreements (Item 1.01) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · May 12, 2026
- S27Form 8-K: board authorizes successive exchange offer; fees at issue (Item 7.01) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Feb 13, 2026
- S28Form 8-K: proposed settlement with the Injunctive Relief Class (Item 8.01) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Nov 10, 2025
- S29Form 8-K: $3.0B senior notes offering (Item 8.01) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Feb 12, 2026
- S30Form 8-K: $405M US litigation escrow deposit (Item 8.01) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Sep 23, 2026
- S31Form 8-K: $250M US litigation escrow deposit (Item 8.01) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Jun 26, 2026
- S32Form 8-K: $125M US litigation escrow deposit (Item 8.01) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Feb 27, 2026
- S33Form 8-K: $500M US litigation escrow deposit (Item 8.01) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Dec 23, 2025
- S36Form 8-K: Bill Ready elected to the board (Item 5.02) · Visa Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Sep 29, 2025
- S37Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2026 Financial Results presentation · Visa Inc. (investor relations) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Oct 27, 2026
- S38Q3 FY2026 earnings call, corrected transcript (Jul 28, 2026) · Visa Inc. (investor relations; FactSet CallStreet) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Jul 28, 2026
- S39Q1 FY2026 earnings call, corrected transcript (Jan 29, 2026) · Visa Inc. (investor relations; FactSet CallStreet) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Jan 29, 2026
- S40Q4 FY2025 earnings call, corrected transcript (Oct 28, 2025) · Visa Inc. (investor relations; FactSet CallStreet) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Oct 28, 2025
- S41V historical daily prices (close on Oct 30, 2026) · Nasdaq, Inc. (nasdaq.com) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Oct 30, 2026
- S42Q2 FY2026 earnings call, corrected transcript (Apr 28, 2026) · Visa Inc. (investor relations; FactSet CallStreet) · Tier 1: company or exchange filing · Apr 28, 2026
Changes to this page (v2 · Nov 1, 2026)
- v2 · Nov 1, 2026Standardized calculation labels to name the filing they come from; no figures changed. (editorial update, Q4 FY2026)
- v1 · Nov 1, 2026First version, through Q4 FY2026 (quarter ended Sep 30, 2026). FY2026 is unaudited, from the Oct 27, 2026 earnings release; the Form 10-K was not filed at this date. (first version)
Numbers come only from tier 1 and tier 2 sources. Read how we research.
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