Visa
What it does
Visa is the world's largest card payment network (NYSE: V), operating in over 200 countries and territories. Founded in 1958 as BankAmericard and rebranded in 1976, Visa processes trillions of dollars in transactions annually. In Nigeria, Visa has a pervasive presence through all major Nigerian banks that issue Visa debit and credit cards. The company has partnered with Interswitch for card processing infrastructure in Nigeria and has invested in African fintech — including strategic investments in Paystack (before its Stripe acquisition) and Interswitch itself. Visa has been expanding its fintech partnerships in Nigeria, including collaborations with Flutterwave for virtual cards and with Paga for payment acceptance. The company reported $32.7 billion in total revenue for fiscal year 2024.
Known for
- World's largest card payment network by transaction volume
- Deep Nigeria presence through all major bank card issuance (GTBank, Access, Zenith, UBA, First Bank)
- Strategic investor in Paystack (pre-Stripe acquisition) and Interswitch
- Partnership with Interswitch for Nigerian card processing
- Collaboration with Flutterwave for virtual Visa cards
- $32.7 billion FY2024 revenue
- Over 4.3 billion Visa cards in circulation globally
Model & industry
Products & subsidiaries
Acquisitions
- Plaid (2021). Visa agreed to acquire financial data aggregator Plaid for $5.3 billion but the deal was called off in Jan 2021 following DOJ antitrust concerns.
Initiatives & programs
- Visa Everywhere Initiative: Global fintech competition supporting startups building payment solutions, with African and Nigerian editions.
- Visa Foundation: Philanthropic arm investing in underserved communities and small businesses globally including Africa.
In the News
- 2024-10 · Ryan McInerney named CEO of Visa, succeeding Al Kelly · Visa Investor Relations
- 2024-09 · Visa reports $32.7 billion revenue for fiscal year 2024 with $15.3 trillion in total payment volume · Visa