Visa 2008 Annual Report Download - page 12

Table of Contents
framework agreement with Visa Europe. We are also building a new data center on the east coast of the United States, with construction scheduled to continue
through 2010. 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.
Unlike the processing platforms of some of our primary competitors, VisaNet is built on a centralized architecture rather than a distributed architecture.
As a result, we are able to view and analyze each authorization transaction we process in real-time and can provide value-added information, such as risk
scoring or loyalty applications, to the issuer while the transaction data is being routed through our system.
Product Platforms
We offer a broad range of product platforms to enable our customers to build differentiated, competitive payment programs for their consumer,
business, government and merchant clients. Our principal payment platforms enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit and prepaid payments, as well as cash
access, for consumers, businesses and government entities. Our payment platforms are offered under our Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands.
Consumer Credit
Our consumer credit product platforms allow our issuers to offer deferred payment and financing products that can be customized to meet the needs of
all consumer segments. Our baseline consumer credit platform is marketed to our issuers as Visa Traditional in the United States and Visa Classic in the rest
of the world. We require issuers offering credit products based on this platform to meet minimum requirements for product functionality and to offer certain
services, such as a reporting service for lost or stolen cards.
In addition, we offer premium credit platforms, which enable our issuers to tailor programs to consumers requiring higher credit lines or enhanced
benefits, such as loyalty programs. Our premium consumer credit platforms are marketed to issuers, and in some cases, to cardholders, as Visa Gold, Visa
Platinum, Visa Signature and Visa Infinite. Issuers offering these credit products are required to provide certain functionality and enhanced cardholder
services that may vary by product and region.
Consumer Deposit Access
Our deposit access product platforms enable our issuers to offer consumer payment and cash access products that draw upon consumer deposit
accounts, such as checking, demand deposit, asset or other pre-funded accounts.
Consumer Debit
Visa Debit. Our primary consumer debit platform uses the Visa brand mark. Through our rules and product platform requirements, we further segment
our Visa debit product platform into Visa Classic, Visa Gold, Visa Platinum and Visa Infinite, which allows our issuers to customize their Visa debit
programs and offer a range of benefits to their debit cardholders.
Interlink Debit. We provide the Interlink debit product platform in the United States and certain countries in the AP region. Interlink is a single-message
point-of-sale debit network. It generally requires a cardholder to enter a personal identification number, or PIN, for authentication. Interlink allows our issuers
to provide a full range of debit card offerings to their deposit account customers. Interlink acceptance marks may be included on Visa debit cards or issued as
standalone debit cards.
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