Visa 2010 Annual Report Download - page 12

Table of Contents
usage, increase product acceptance and support cardholder acquisition and retention. For merchants, we work to ensure that the Visa brand represents timely
and guaranteed payment, as well as a way to increase sales. For our clients, our marketing program is designed to support their card issuance, activation and
usage efforts while complementing and enhancing the value of their own brands.
We establish global marketing relationships to promote the Visa brand and to allow clients to conduct marketing programs in conjunction with major
sporting and entertainment events. For instance, we have been the exclusive payment card sponsor for the Olympic Games since 1986 and recently extended
the sponsorship through 2020. We are also one of six FIFA partners, which provides us with worldwide exclusive access to the FIFA World Cup and more
than 40 other FIFA competitions through 2014. This sponsorship creates a powerful opportunity to drive business, achieve maximum exposure and improve
brand lift, global reach and local relevance. In addition, we engage in marketing and sponsorship activities with other regional, national and local companies,
sports leagues or events, such as the National Football League in the United States, or with associations and companies, to provide customized marketing
platforms to clients in certain countries and regions.
Our merchant marketing activities bring added value to our merchant partners through the development of marketing programs customized for specific
merchants and industry segments. These programs, which we develop in conjunction with merchants, generate awareness for new acceptance channels and
locations and increase cardholder spending and merchant sales revenue through special offers and promotions.
In addition, we work on various fronts to maintain, enhance and protect our corporate reputation and brand. Our Corporate Responsibility program
helps ensure we positively impact the lives of those in our global and local communities. We do so by focusing on promoting financial literacy and inclusion,
providing humanitarian aid and community support, and engaging in responsible business practices. We continue to stress the importance of promoting an
understanding of Visa's role as a payments network and articulating the ways that digital currency can advance economic empowerment and business
efficiencies. To that end, Currency of Progress, our corporate reputation campaign launched in October 2009, communicates the tangible benefits that Visa
and digital currency delivers to individuals, businesses, governments and economies.
Merchant Acceptance Initiatives
We aim to maintain and expand our merchant base by focusing on the needs of merchants and consumers and enhancing our programs to increase
acceptance in attractive and fast-growing segments, such as bill payment. Our efforts to address these needs include supporting the development of
technological innovations, delivering value-added information services, such as the Visa Incentive Network, and evaluating potential modifications to our
operating rules and interchange rates to enhance the value of our payments network compared to other forms of payment. For example, in October 2010 we
began offering a global program that enables millions of face-to-face merchants to accept Visa cards for transactions of approximately US$25 or less without
requiring a cardholder signature, PIN or providing a receipt, unless requested by the cardholder. This program has the potential to increase speed at the point-
of-sale, enhance consumer satisfaction and deliver operating efficiencies for merchants.
We also enter into arrangements with certain merchants under which they receive monetary incentives and rebates for acceptance of products carrying
our brands and increasing their payments volume of products carrying our brands or indicating a preference for our cards.
Client Standards
Rulemaking and Enforcement. In general, our clients are granted licenses to use our brands and to access our transaction processing systems. Our clients
are obligated to honor our rules and
11