Visa 2014 Annual Report Download - page 19

PART I
ITEM 1. Business
General Business Developments
Visa Inc., which we refer to as Visa or the Company, is a global payments technology company
that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200
countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s
most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — which facilitates authorization, clearing and
settlement of payment transactions worldwide. It also offers fraud protection for account holders and
rapid payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates
and fees for account holders on Visa-branded cards and payment products. In most cases, account
holder and merchant relationships belong to, and are managed by, our financial institution clients.
Visa Inc. was incorporated in the State of Delaware in May 2007. In October 2007, we undertook a
reorganization in which Visa U.S.A. Inc., Visa International Service Association, Visa Canada
Corporation and Inovant LLC became direct or indirect subsidiaries of Visa Inc. Visa Europe Limited
remains owned and governed by its European member financial institutions and is not a subsidiary of
Visa Inc. Visa Inc. completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) in March 2008.
Since fiscal 2010, we have completed several acquisitions to accelerate the growth of Visa’s
digital, eCommerce and mobile commerce offerings. These include: CyberSource Corporation, a
leading provider of electronic payment, risk management and payment security solutions to online
merchants; PlaySpan Inc., a leading provider of digital goods transactions in online games, digital
media and social networks; and Fundamo, a leading provider of mobile financial services for mobile
network operators and financial institutions in developing economies.
General business developments in fiscal 2014 included the following:
•Product innovation. Visa’s fundamental approach to innovation focuses on: (i) supporting an
evolving payments ecosystem; (ii) enhancing Visa’s network security through innovation; and
(iii) developing new platforms, products and services.
i. Evolving payments ecosystem. By providing new and existing financial institution clients
and partners greater access to Visa’s network and payment capabilities, Visa is
contributing to the evolving payments ecosystem. In 2014, Visa announced a developer
center, which will enable software developers, financial institutions and new entrants to
more easily access Visa payment capabilities through programing interfaces and
software developer kits beginning in 2015. We also launched the Visa Ready program to
enable our partners to quickly deploy Visa-compliant devices, software and services to
consumers, thereby significantly accelerating the pace of innovation in payments. Finally,
we established an innovation center at our San Francisco Bay Area headquarters to
facilitate collaboration among Visa, our financial institution clients, other partners and the
Bay Area technology community to develop the next generation of global commerce
solutions.
ii. Network security through innovation. In 2014, Visa made strides to enhance its network
security by implementing the following programs:
a. Visa Token Service: Visa Token Service replaces account numbers with digital
tokens for online and mobile payments. This benefits merchants and issuers by
removing sensitive account information from online and mobile payments and
significantly reduces fraud risk.
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