- Company name
- Visa
- Sector
- Payments network
- About
- Visa runs a global card payments network. It does not lend money: banks issue Visa cards to consumers and businesses, and other banks and processors sign up merchants. Visa earns fees for the use of its brand and network and for each transaction it processes. It has four main revenue lines: service revenue on payments volume, data processing revenue, international transaction revenue on cross-border payments, and other revenue such as value-added services. Client incentives that it pays to banks and merchants reduce revenue. In fiscal 2026, Visa processed 281.3 billion transactions in more than 200 countries and territories, and net revenue was $45.9 billion. Its fiscal year ends on September 30.
- Thesis
- Visa trades at a premium because investors pay for a network with very high margins that grows almost every year. Payments volume grew 9% in fiscal 2026, cross-border volume grew 13% and net revenue grew 15%. Non-GAAP operating expenses were about one third of net revenue. Each new card and merchant makes the network more useful to the other side, and Visa keeps adding value-added services. The price assumes that growth near this pace continues for many years and that regulation and new payment methods do not take much of the margin. For the premium to be earned, three things must be true. Net revenue must keep growing about 10% a year. Press reports of the October 27, 2026 call say that Visa expects low double-digit adjusted net revenue growth in fiscal 2027. The merchant settlement must get final court approval without new limits, and the U.S. Department of Justice debit case must not force large changes. New ways to pay, such as account-to-account payments, stablecoins and AI shopping agents, must use the Visa network and not go around it. The Q1 fiscal 2027 report, expected in late January 2027, gives the next test. The court decisions can take longer, so the full evidence comes over one to three years.
- Risks
- Regulation and lawsuits can lower fees. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Visa in September 2024 for monopoly in debit, and the court denied Visa's motion to dismiss on June 23, 2025. Congress has brought back the Credit Card Competition Act, and court decisions on debit interchange caps conflict.
The merchant settlement of November 2025 still needs final court approval. It cuts U.S. credit interchange and lets merchants refuse some card categories, which can lower volume or force more client incentives.
New payment methods can go around card networks. Account-to-account payments, real-time payment systems run by governments, stablecoins and AI shopping agents can take volume if Visa does not take part in them.
Cross-border revenue depends on travel and currency moves. International transaction revenue grew only 8% in fiscal 2026, while cross-border volume grew 13%.
- Balance sheet
- Cash: $14.2B
Debt: $22.1B
Net debt: $7.9B
Undrawn credit line: $7.0B, to May 2028
Debt due within 12 months: $2.7B
Visa has little net debt. At September 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents were $12.9 billion and investment securities were $1.2 billion, for $14.2 billion in total. Debt was $22.1 billion: $2.7 billion due within one year and $19.4 billion of long-term debt. Visa had no commercial paper outstanding and no borrowings under its $7.0 billion revolving credit facility, which ends in May 2028. Operating cash flow was $23.7 billion in fiscal 2026, and purchases of property, equipment and technology were $1.7 billion. Visa returned $25.6 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2026 and had $24.4 billion of buyback authorization left. Its U.S. litigation escrow account pays for covered merchant lawsuits, and each deposit lowers the class B share counts. The BioCatch purchase will use $2.4 billion of cash when it closes.
As of 2026-09-30.
- Checkpoints
- Jan 28, 2027 (estimate): Q1 fiscal 2027 results: revenue growth. Pending. Watch: Net revenue growth near 10% or more with cross-border volume growth near 10% passes; growth that falls to single digits with higher client incentives fails.
2027 (estimate): Final approval of the merchant settlement. Pending. Watch: Final court approval on the terms of November 2025 passes; a rejection or new limits on interchange or card rules fail.
- Recent events
- 2026-10-27: Visa reported fiscal 2026 results. Net revenue grew 15% to $45.9 billion, and non-GAAP EPS grew 16% to $13.27. GAAP EPS was $12.32, after litigation provisions of $1.7 billion. In Q4 fiscal 2026, net revenue grew 13% to $12.1 billion and cross-border volume grew 14%. The board raised the quarterly dividend 16% to $0.780 per share. Visa bought back about 61 million shares for $20.5 billion in fiscal 2026.
2026-09-18: Visa put $405 million into its U.S. litigation escrow account. The deposit lowers the class B share counts, so it has the same effect on EPS as a share buyback.
2026-08-03: Visa agreed to buy BioCatch, a fraud intelligence company, for $2.4 billion in cash. It expects the purchase to close by the end of the March 2027 quarter.
2026-07-28: Visa reported Q3 fiscal 2026 results. Net revenue grew 14% to $11.6 billion, and non-GAAP EPS was $3.32.
2026-06-09: The court gave preliminary approval to the November 2025 settlement between Visa, Mastercard and the injunctive relief class of U.S. merchants. The merchants asked for final approval on July 15, 2026.
2026-05-12: Visa completed an exchange offer for its class B-1 and B-2 common stock. Holders received class B-3 and class C common stock and agreed to pay Visa back for part of future litigation deposits.
2026-04-28: Visa reported Q2 fiscal 2026 results. Net revenue grew 17% to $11.2 billion, and non-GAAP EPS was $3.31. The board approved a new $20.0 billion share buyback program.
2025-11-10: Visa and Mastercard agreed to a new settlement with the U.S. merchant injunctive relief class. It lowers the average U.S. credit interchange rate by 10 basis points for five years, caps posted credit rates and lets merchants choose which categories of credit cards they accept.