Visa 2014 Annual Report Download - page 17

Forward-Looking Statements:
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are
identified by words such as “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “projects,” “could,”
“should,” “will,” “will continue” and other similar expressions. Examples of forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements we make about our revenue, client incentives, operating
margin, tax rate, earnings per share, free cash flow, and the growth of those items.
By their nature, forward-looking statements: (i) speak only as of the date they are made; (ii) are
not statements of historical fact or guarantees of future performance; and (iii) are subject to risks,
uncertainties, assumptions or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify.
Therefore, actual results could differ materially and adversely from our forward-looking statements due
to a variety of factors, including the following:
• the impact of laws, regulations and marketplace barriers, including:
• rules capping debit interchange reimbursement rates and expanding financial institutions’
and merchants’ choices among debit payments networks promulgated under the Dodd-
Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act;
• increased regulation in jurisdictions outside of the United States and in other product
categories;
• increased government support of national payments networks outside the United States;
and
• increased regulation on consumer privacy, data use and security;
• developments in litigation and government enforcement, including those affecting interchange
reimbursement fees, antitrust and tax;
• new lawsuits, investigations or proceedings, or changes to our potential exposure in
connection with pending lawsuits, investigations or proceedings;
• economic factors, such as:
• economic fragility in the Eurozone and the United States;
• general economic, political and social conditions in mature and emerging markets globally;
• general stock market fluctuations which may impact consumer spending;
• material changes in cross-border activity, foreign exchange controls and fluctuations in
currency exchange rates; and
• material changes in our financial institution clients’ performance compared to our
estimates;
• industry developments, such as competitive pressure, rapid technological developments and
disintermediation from our payments network;
• system developments, such as:
• disruption of our transaction processing systems or the inability to process transactions
efficiently;
• account data breaches or increased fraudulent or other illegal activities involving Visa-
branded cards or payment products; and
• failure to maintain systems interoperability with Visa Europe;
• costs arising if Visa Europe were to exercise its right to require us to acquire all of its
outstanding stock;
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