Visa 2009 Annual Report Download - page 7

Table of Contents
• "pay later" cards, such as credit, deferred debit and charge cards, which typically permit a cardholder to carry a balance in a revolving credit or
deferred debit account or require payment of the full balance within a specified period; and
• "pay before" cards, such as prepaid cards, which are prefunded up to a certain monetary value.
The primary global general purpose card brands include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB and Diners Club. While these brands—
including Visa—were historically associated primarily with consumer credit or charge cards in the United States and other major international markets, Visa
and others have, over time, broadened their offerings to include debit, ATM, prepaid and commercial cards.
Our Primary Operations
We generate revenue from the transaction processing services we offer to our customers. Our customers deliver Visa products and payment services to
consumers and merchants based on the product platforms we define and manage. Payments network management is a core part of our operations, as it ensures
that our payments system provides a safe, efficient, consistent, and interoperable service to cardholders, merchants, and financial institutions worldwide.
Transaction Processing Services
Processing Infrastructure
We own and operate VisaNet, which consists of three synchronized processing centers, including a new data center on the east coast of the United
States that replaced an existing data center in March 2009. In addition, Visa Europe operates one processing center in the United Kingdom, which is part of
our synchronized system in accordance with the terms of our Framework Agreement with Visa Europe. These centers are linked by a global
telecommunications network and are engineered for redundancy. Intelligent access points around the world complete our global processing infrastructure and
enable merchants and financial institutions worldwide to access our core processing and value-added services.
VisaNet is built on a centralized architecture, enabling us to view and analyze each authorization transaction we process in real time and provide value-
added information, such as risk scoring or loyalty applications, while the transaction data is being routed through our system.
Core Processing Services
Our core processing services involve the routing of payment information and related data to facilitate the authorization, clearing and settlement of
transactions between Visa issuers, which are the financial institutions that issue Visa cards to cardholders, and acquirers, which are the financial institutions
that offer Visa network connectivity and payments acceptance services to merchants. In addition, we offer a range of value-added processing services to
support our customers' Visa programs and to promote the growth and security of the Visa payments network.
Authorization is the process of approving or declining a transaction before a purchase is finalized or cash is disbursed. Clearing is the process of
delivering final transaction data from an acquirer to an issuer for posting to the cardholder's account, the calculation of certain fees and charges that apply to
the issuer and acquirer involved in the transaction, and the conversion of transaction amounts to the appropriate settlement currencies. Settlement is the
process of calculating, determining, reporting and transferring the net financial position of our issuers and acquirers for all transactions that are cleared.
6