⚡What does Visa do, in 30 seconds?
Visa runs a payment network that links the bank that issued a shopper's card to the seller's bank or processor, and it charges them fees 15 2. It does not issue cards or lend money 15. Visa's net revenue was $40.0bn ✓ in FY2025, and it kept 50.1% ✓ of that as net income.
📱What does Visa sell?
The money map splits Visa's net revenue by place: the United States and everywhere else. Visa counts revenue in a country mainly by where the card's bank or the seller's bank is 4. Across all its markets, Visa's own processing network is called VisaNet 5. Its core products are credit, debit and prepaid cards and digital credentials 53.
United States
Fees from Visa's clients in the US. The US brought in $15.6bn ✓ of net revenue in FY2025. That was 39% ✓ of the total, down from 43% ✓ in FY2023.
👥 Banks that issue Visa cards, and the banks and processors that sign up sellers; these are Visa's direct customers 2. Tap to Pay was used for 66% of face-to-face Visa payments in the US in fiscal 2025 3.
Outside the US
Fees from Visa's clients in every other country. No single country outside the US reached 10% of net revenue in fiscal 2025 4. Visa Direct, its service for sending money between people, businesses and governments, works in more than 195 countries and territories 3. Outside the US brought in $24.4bn ✓ in FY2025, or 61% ✓ of net revenue.
👥 Card users and sellers in more than 200 countries and territories, where Visa credentials could be used in fiscal 2025 5. In fiscal 2025, more than 60% of Visa's staff worked outside the US 6.
How the mix has shifted
💸How does Visa make money?
Follow the money from left to rightfrom top to bottom: what customers pay for, what it costs to make, and what is left as profit.
Visa charges fees on four gross revenue lines, then subtracts client incentives to reach net revenue 19 152. Service revenue, based mainly on payments volume, was $17,539 million in fiscal 2025 1519. Data processing revenue, for approving, clearing and settling payments, was $19,993 million 1519. International transaction revenue, for cross-border payments and currency conversion, was $14,166 million 15192. Other revenue, mainly from advisory and other extra services and licence fees, was $4,053 million 1519.
Together the four lines came to $55,751 million 19. Client incentives are payments and rewards that Visa gives banks, sellers and partners under long-term contracts, to grow volume and win card programs 152. They were $15,751 million, which left net revenue of $40,000 million 19.
Visa has no cost of sales, so its costs come straight out of the $40.0bn ✓. Selling and admin costs took $1.9bn ✓, and other operating costs took $14.1bn ✓. Visa is not a bank: it does not carry the credit risk on card balances 15. What remained was operating profit, the profit from the main business, at $24.0bn ✓. Other income added $0.2bn ✓ and tax took $4.1bn ✓. That left net income of $20.1bn ✓. Out of every $100 of net revenue, Visa kept about $50 ✓ as profit.
Out of every $100 customers paid in FY2025…
⏱️ Visa by the clock
Spread the FY2025 totals evenly over its 365 days and you get this. Source: VISA INC. 10-K [7].
📈How is Visa doing?
Visa has grown fast and steadily for a decade. From FY2015 to FY2025, net revenue grew 11.2% ✓ a year on average. It rose in 9 ✓ of those 10 ✓ years, and fell only in FY2020, by 4.9% ✓. In FY2025 it grew 11.3% ✓. Operating margin was 60.0% ✓ in FY2025, down from 65.7% ✓ in FY2024. Free cash flow was $21.6bn ✓ in FY2025. Separately, Visa recorded litigation provisions of $2.5 billion in fiscal 2025 and $1.7 billion in fiscal 2026 18.
The four quarters to 31 March 2026 were stronger. Net revenue reached $43.0bn ✓, up 14.4% ✓ on the four quarters before, and operating margin was 61.1% ✓. For the full fiscal year to September 2026, Visa reported net revenue of $45.9 billion, up 15% 18. That year, payments volume rose 9%, and Visa processed 281.3 billion transactions 18.
📝 The report card
Visa earns top marks for profit and cash, good marks for growth and steadiness, and a weak mark for its balance sheet. Every company is graded on the same fixed scale, so an A means the same thing on every page. The strip shows where Visa (orange) and its 3 peers land; further right is better.
Growth
Visa's net revenue grew 10.9% ✓ a year over its last three fiscal years, which earns a B ✓ on the fixed scale, just above the 10% line. Mastercard grew faster, at 13.8% ✓, but that is also a B ✓.
Why this measure? (higher is better)
Growing sales is the engine of a business. Mature giants rarely grow fast, so 5% a year already earns a C.
Profitability
Over the last three years combined, Visa kept 63.2% ✓ of net revenue as operating profit, an A ✓. Mastercard kept 56.3% ✓, also an A ✓, while PayPal kept 17.3% ✓.
Why this measure? (higher is better)
Operating margin is the share of each sales dollar left after running the business. Software and platforms often clear 30%; hardware makers usually sit below 10%.
Cash generation
Over the last three years combined, Visa turned 55.2% ✓ of net revenue into free cash flow, an easy A ✓. That is more than double the 21.6% ✓ peer median.
Why this measure? (higher is better)
Free cash flow is the cash left after paying for factories, data centres and equipment. It funds dividends, buybacks and new bets.
Balance sheet
Visa's borrowings were bigger than its cash and investments (leases not counted). At the end of FY2025, net cash equalled -20.0% ✓ of a year's net revenue, a D ✓. Mastercard's figure was -25.7% ✓, also a D ✓. Operating profit still covered interest costs 40.7x ✓ in FY2025.
Why this measure? (higher is better)
More cash than debt gives a company room to ride out bad years. Some debt is normal; a lot of it makes a company fragile.
Steadiness
Visa's yearly growth rates have a standard deviation of 7.4% ✓, a B ✓, just under the 8% line. Big swings such as -4.9% ✓ in FY2020 and 21.6% ✓ in FY2022 add to it. Fiserv's growth is steadier, at 2.3% ✓, an A ✓.
Why this measure? (lower is better)
Steady growers are easier to plan around. Big swings mean sales depend on product cycles, the economy or one-off events.
🧑🏫 How the grades work
- Same scale for everyone. Each measure has fixed cut-offs (shown under each strip). Clear the A line and you get an A, whatever your peers do.
- Three years together. Profitability and cash generation add up the last three fiscal years before dividing, so one unusual year counts for less than it would on its own (a year much bigger than the others still weighs most).
- Peers for context. The rank shows how Visa compares with the group. Companies within 0.1 percentage point share a rank.
- Same source. Every company's figures come from its own latest annual report (10-K), so fiscal years end in different months.
- Judgement, openly stated. The cut-offs are QuantVantage.ai's view of what good looks like for a large, established company. They are not a forecast or a recommendation.
11 years at a glance
Where the cash goes
From FY2015 to FY2025, Visa returned $130.8bn ✓ to shareholders through buybacks and dividends, against $146.2bn ✓ of free cash flow. In FY2025 alone, it spent $18.3bn ✓ on buybacks and $4.6bn ✓ on dividends, or 106% ✓ of free cash flow. In October 2026 the board raised the quarterly dividend 16% to $0.780 per class A share 1820.
🧮Ratios 101: what are Visa's key financial ratios?
Ratios shrink Visa's big numbers into easy comparisons, and most of them show how little money its network needs to run. A ratio divides one number by another so companies of any size can be compared. Each card shows the formula with Visa's real FY2025 numbers, the peer median and the trend.
💰 Profitability: how much of each sale is kept?
Operating margin
What is left after also paying for research, marketing and running the company.
👉 Visa's 60.0% ✓ is far above the 27.5% ✓ peer median, though below its own 65.3% ✓ in FY2015.
📏 Rule of thumb: Above 20% is strong for a large company.
Net margin
The bottom line: profit after interest and taxes, per dollar of sales.
👉 Visa keeps 50.1% ✓ of net revenue as final profit, up from 45.6% ✓ in FY2015 and about three times the 16.4% ✓ peer median.
📏 Rule of thumb: Above 15% is strong; one-off tax items can move it in a single year.
Return on equity (ROE)
Profit earned for each dollar that shareholders have left in the company.
👉 ROE of 52.9% ✓ is about double the 25.8% ✓ peer median and up from 21.2% ✓ in FY2015. Mastercard's 193.5% ✓ is far higher.
📏 Rule of thumb: Around 15% or more is good, but buybacks shrink equity and can make ROE look huge.
⚙️ Efficiency: how hard do the assets work?
Return on assets (ROA)
Profit earned from everything the company owns, however it was paid for.
👉 ROA of 20.1% ✓ beats the 6.5% ✓ peer median and its own 16.1% ✓ in FY2015.
📏 Rule of thumb: Above 10% is strong; banks and factories usually earn less.
Asset turnover
Dollars of sales squeezed out of each dollar of assets.
👉 Visa's net revenue is 0.4x ✓ the value of everything it owns. That is the same 0.4x ✓ as in FY2015, and level with the 0.4x ✓ peer median.
📏 Rule of thumb: Retailers often top 2x; asset-heavy businesses can sit below 0.5x.
🛟 Safety: could it survive a bad year?
Current ratio
Can short-term assets (cash, money owed by customers, stock) pay the bills due within a year?
👉 At 1.1x ✓, Visa had $37.8bn ✓ of current assets against $35.0bn ✓ of bills due within a year, close to the 1.0x ✓ peer median.
📏 Rule of thumb: Above 1.0x is the classic comfort line, but cash-rich giants can run below it on purpose.
Debt to equity
How much the company has borrowed for each dollar shareholders have in it.
👉 Visa's 0.7x ✓ is below the 1.1x ✓ peer median, but it had almost no debt in FY2015, at 0.0x ✓.
📏 Rule of thumb: Below 1.0x is conservative. Like ROE, it can rise when buybacks shrink equity, even if debt has not changed.
Interest cover
How many times over operating profit could pay the year's interest bill.
👉 Operating profit was 40.7x ✓ interest costs, far above the 13.8x ✓ peer median, so interest is a small cost for Visa.
📏 Rule of thumb: Above 5x is comfortable; below 2x is a warning sign.
💵 Cash and owners: where does the money end up?
Cash conversion
Does reported profit turn into real cash? Free cash flow is operating cash minus capital spending.
👉 Visa turns profit into cash at 1.1x ✓, level with the 1.1x ✓ peer median and a little above its own 1.0x ✓ in FY2015.
📏 Rule of thumb: Near or above 1.0x means profits are backed by cash.
Stock pay
Pay given to staff in shares instead of cash. It is a real cost to owners because it adds shares.
👉 Stock pay is 2.2% ✓ of net revenue, a little above the 1.8% ✓ peer median and up from 1.3% ✓ in FY2015.
📏 Rule of thumb: Under 5% of sales is modest for a tech company.
Shareholder payout
How much of the year's profit was handed back to owners.
👉 Visa returned 114.4% ✓ of FY2025 profit through dividends and buybacks, more than the 118.1% ✓ peer median and up from 64.6% ✓ in FY2015.
📏 Rule of thumb: Above 100% means it returned more than it earned, using cash savings or debt.
Ratios use fiscal-year-end balance sheet values. Inputs are shown rounded, so dividing them can differ from the result in the last digit. A peer median leaves out peers that do not report the inputs, or where the ratio means nothing (for example, negative shareholders' equity). Rules of thumb are general guides from QuantVantage.ai, not hard limits. No share-price ratios (like price-to-earnings) are shown on this page.
🥊Who are Visa's competitors?
Visa competes with other card networks, digital wallets and debit networks 11 1112 1113. Mastercard runs a rival global card network 11. PayPal adds card payments to Visa's network but competes when users pay from bank funds 1112. Fiserv owns debit networks that compete with Visa, and it also works on Visa's network 1113.
| Company | Where they compete | Revenue | Growth/yr (3y) | Op. margin | FCF margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visa (V, FY2025) | Global card network for credit, debit and prepaid cards, plus money movement and extra services | $40.0bn | 10.9% | 60.0% | 53.9% |
| Mastercard (MA, FY2025) | Rival global card network; Visa cards carried $13,433 billion of payments volume in calendar 2024, against $8,014 billion for Mastercard 11 | $32.8bn | 13.8% | 57.6% | 52.3% |
| PayPal (PYPL, FY2025) | Digital wallet that can add card payments to Visa's network, or compete when users pay from a bank account 1112 | $33.2bn | 6.4% | 18.3% | 16.8% |
| Fiserv (FISV, FY2025) | Owns the Accel and STAR US debit networks, and is also a service provider and merchant acquirer on Visa's network 1113 | $21.2bn | 6.1% | 27.5% | 20.3% |
American Express issues cards and signs up sellers on its own network 151122. Since buying Discover in May 2025, Capital One also owns the Discover and PULSE networks, which compete with Visa 1126. Real-time payment systems such as FedNow, PIX and UPI have launched in at least 80 countries with government backing 11.
🧭Visa SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
💪 Strengths
- In fiscal 2025, Visa had nearly 5 billion payment credentials, usable at more than 175 million merchant locations 5.
- Visa-branded cards carried $13,433 billion of payments volume in calendar 2024, more than American Express, Diners Club/Discover, JCB and Mastercard combined 11.
- Over the last three years combined, Visa kept 63.2% ✓ of net revenue as operating profit, an A ✓ on our report card.
- Visa does not lend money, so it does not carry the credit risk on card balances 15.
🩹 Weaknesses
- One client alone made up 11% of Visa's net revenue in each of fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023 4.
- Client incentives took about 28% of Visa's gross revenue in fiscal 2025 19.
- Clients, including some of the largest, can generally issue non-Visa products and reassess their commitments 216.
- At the end of FY2025, Visa's borrowings were bigger than its cash and investments, a D ✓ on our balance-sheet grade.
🚀 Opportunities
- Visa sees an opportunity of about $200 trillion a year in business, government and person-to-person payments outside Russia and China 3.
- Revenue from extra services such as fraud tools and advisory work was $10.9 billion in fiscal 2025, up 24% 194.
- Visa Intelligent Commerce gives AI agents tools to make secure purchases for users 3.
- In August 2026, Visa agreed to buy BioCatch, which uses behaviour signals to detect fraud, for $2.4 billion 20.
⚠️ Threats
- Real-time payment systems such as FedNow, PIX and UPI compete with card networks 11.
- Digital wallets and buy-now-pay-later firms can add Visa volume, but they can also be funded without a card, so they compete with Visa 11.
- US rules cap debit interchange for large banks and limit network exclusivity on debit cards 16.
- The US Justice Department sued Visa in September 2024, saying it illegally monopolised US debit network services; as of September 2025, the case continued 21.
🏰Does Visa have a moat?
Why 4?
Visa owns its brand and trademarks, and issuers and acquirers may use them only under agreements with Visa 14. It promotes the brand through sponsorships such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup 2026 145. Visa says its credentials and acceptance, plus security, speed and reliability, help it compete 11.
Why 3?
Visa signs long-term incentive contracts with banks, sellers and partners 152. But its clients can generally issue non-Visa products and reassess their commitments 216. At 30 September 2025, Visa had $4.9 billion of contracted work still to deliver, mostly extra services under contract 4. One client made up 11% of net revenue in each of fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023 4.
Why 5?
Visa had nearly 5 billion payment credentials usable at more than 175 million merchant locations in fiscal 2025 5. That year, 329 billion transactions carried the Visa brand 5. Visa cards carried more payments volume in calendar 2024 than American Express, Diners Club/Discover, JCB and Mastercard combined 11. Visa owns VisaNet, its processing network 5. Nearly 14,500 financial institutions build card programs on Visa products 53.
Why 4?
Of 329 billion Visa-branded transactions in fiscal 2025, Visa itself processed 258 billion 5. It runs four global data centers, in the US, the UK and Singapore 17. Visa processed 281.3 billion transactions in fiscal 2026, up 9% 18. Its extra services brought in $10.9 billion in fiscal 2025 194.
Why 3?
Visa owns many patents and patent applications, as well as its trademarks 14. By 30 September 2025 it had created more than 16 billion tokens that replace card numbers in digital payments 3. But US rules cap debit interchange for large banks 16. In Europe, a regulation caps interchange, and other networks and processors may handle Visa payments directly with banks 1116.
A moat is what keeps rivals from taking a company's customers and profits. Scores are QuantVantage.ai's judgement (5 = strongest), set with the same rubric on every explainer (orange is Visa; grey dots are peers).
🔭What should you watch next?
Final approval of the US merchant settlement
Visa and Mastercard agreed a proposed settlement with US merchants in November 2025 2728. It would cut the average US credit interchange rate by 10 basis points for five years 27. Final approval was requested on 15 July 2026, and the changes depend on the court 2728.
Quarterly dividend payment
Visa's raised dividend of $0.780 per class A share is payable on 1 December 2026, to holders of record on 10 November 2026 20.
BioCatch purchase
Visa expects its BioCatch purchase to close by 31 March 2027, subject to regulatory approvals 20.
Real-time payments
Government-backed systems such as FedNow, PIX and UPI compete with card networks at home and, more and more, across borders 11.
📚Learn the words
❓Frequently asked questions about Visa
How does Visa make money?
Visa makes money by charging banks fees when people pay with Visa products, based on the amount and type of payments 2. Its net revenue was $40.0bn ✓ in FY2025, after client incentives were taken off 19.
Does Visa issue credit cards or lend money?
No. Visa does not issue cards, lend money or set the rates and fees cardholders pay 15. Banks issue Visa cards, and nearly 14,500 financial institutions use Visa products to build card programs 53.
Is Visa's revenue still growing?
Yes, Visa's revenue is still growing. Net revenue rose 11.3% ✓ in FY2025. In fiscal 2026 it rose 15% to $45.9 billion 18.
Who are Visa's biggest competitors?
Mastercard runs a rival global card network 11. American Express runs its own network and issues cards itself 151122. Debit networks such as Fiserv's STAR and real-time payment systems such as FedNow also compete 1113 11.
How much of Visa's revenue comes from outside the US?
Most of it. In FY2025, 61% ✓ of Visa's net revenue came from outside the US, and the US made up 39% ✓.
🎮Play: higher or lower, then test yourself
Figures come from each company's latest annual report (10-K); fiscal years end in different months. Sources: [7] [8] [9] [10].
🧠 Test yourself
5 quick questions. Score: 0 / 5
1. Who issues the Visa card in your wallet?
2. About how much of Visa's FY2025 net revenue came from outside the US?
3. Out of every $100 of net revenue in FY2025, about how much did Visa keep as profit?
4. About how many transactions carried the Visa brand each day in fiscal 2025?
5. How were most face-to-face Visa payments made worldwide in fiscal 2025?
🔎Sources and method
Every figure comes from a source listed here or is calculated from those sources (marked ✓). Company financials are taken from SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q) as tagged in XBRL. Peer grades rank the same measures across the company and its peers. This page contains no share-price data and no valuation.
- Visa (V) Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025, filed 2025-11-06 — revenue by product, segment and geography (accessed 2026-10-28)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Note 1 revenue recognition: revenue lines and accounting for client incentives (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 products: credit, debit, prepaid, Tap to Pay, tokens, Visa Direct, commercial solutions, value-added services, agentic commerce, stablecoins (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Note on revenue: net revenue by U.S. and international, share earned in the U.S., value-added services revenue, largest client, remaining performance obligations (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Cover and Item 1 overview: incorporation, fiscal year end, origins in 1958, four-party model, transactions, clients, credentials, merchant locations (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 talent and people: employees, countries, share outside the U.S. (accessed 2026-10-30)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: Visa (V) — annual 10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: Mastercard Inc (MA) — annual 10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) — annual 10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: FISERV INC (FISV) — annual 10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 competition: network comparison table for calendar 2024 and types of competitors (accessed 2026-10-30)
- PayPal Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 7 transaction expense: card and bank funding sources in the PayPal wallet (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Fiserv Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1: Accel, STAR and MoneyPass debit networks; registration with Visa and Mastercard as service provider and acquirer (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 intellectual property and brand sponsorships (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 core business: how a Visa payment works; definitions of service, data processing, international transaction and other revenue and client incentives (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 government regulation and Item 1A risk factors: debit interchange cap, routing rules, Europe processing rules, client flexibility (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 2 properties: headquarters and global data centers (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa earnings release for fiscal fourth quarter and full year 2026 (Form 8-K exhibit 99.1) — Fiscal 2026 net revenue, revenue lines, client incentives, payments volume, cross-border volume, processed transactions, litigation provision (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 7 net revenue table for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023 by revenue line, with drivers of each line (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa earnings release for fiscal fourth quarter and full year 2026 (Form 8-K exhibit 99.1) — Other notable items: BioCatch acquisition agreement; dividend declared October 27, 2026 (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Note 20 legal matters: U.S. Department of Justice debit lawsuit (accessed 2026-10-30)
- American Express Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1: card-issuing, merchant-acquiring and card network businesses (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa 2026 proxy statement (Form DEF 14A, filed December 2025) — Chief Executive Officer and start date (accessed 2026-10-30)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: Visa (V) — quarterly 10-Q/10-K facts (accessed 2026-10-28)
- SEC EDGAR companyfacts: Visa (V) — balance sheet at 2026-03-31 (accessed 2026-10-28)
- Capital One Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — Item 1 and risk factors: largest U.S. credit card issuer, Discover acquisition, Discover and PULSE networks, competition with Visa and Mastercard (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 8-K dated November 10, 2025 — Proposed settlement with the injunctive relief class of U.S. merchants and its terms (accessed 2026-10-30)
- Visa Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 — Note on legal matters: interchange litigation updates through July 2026 (U.S. and Europe) (accessed 2026-10-30)