Visa 2010 Annual Report Download - page 7

Table of Contents
• Economic Recovery. The global economic recovery drove double-digit growth across our three primary revenue drivers—payments volume,
cross-border volume and Visa-processed transactions—which contributed to our 17% year-over-year total operating revenues gain for fiscal
2010.
• Sponsorships. We sponsored our first FIFA World Cup, held June-July 2010, as part of our overall FIFA sponsorship which extends through
2014. We also launched our first global Olympic marketing campaign, Go World, in November 2009 in advance of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic
Winter Games. This followed shortly after we announced an eight-year extension of the Olympic Games sponsorship we have had in place since
1986, enabling us to remain the exclusive payment services sponsor through 2020.
• Regulation. New regulation affecting the payments industry and our financial institution clients was adopted in several important jurisdictions. Of
note this fiscal year, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law in the United States on July 21, 2010, which will,
amongst other things, regulate interchange fees and transaction routing rules related to our debit card products. See Government Regulation
below.
Industry Overview
The Global Payments Industry
We operate in the global payments industry, which is undergoing a powerful secular shift towards card-based and other electronic payments and away
from paper-based payments, such as cash and checks. For more than 50 years, Visa has played a central role in driving this migration by providing payment
products and services that we believe deliver significant benefits to consumers, businesses, governments and merchants. We believe that consumers are
increasingly attracted to the convenience, security, enhanced services and rewards associated with electronic payment forms. We also believe that
corporations and governments are shifting to electronic payments to improve efficiency, control and security, and that a growing number of merchants are
accepting electronic payments to improve sales and customer convenience.
The global payments industry consists of all forms of payment and value transfer, including:
• paper-based payments—cash, personal checks, money orders, government checks, travelers cheques and other paper-based means of transferring
value;
• card-based payments—credit cards, charge cards, debit cards, deferred debit cards, ATM cards, prepaid cards, private label cards and other types
of general-purpose and limited-use cards;
• mobile payments—electronic payments through mobile phones and other handheld devices using a variety of applications such as text messages,
mobile billing, web browsers or applications, contactless readers, or other means; and
• other electronic payments—wire transfers, electronic benefits transfers, automated clearing house payments and other forms of electronic
payment not typically tied to a payment card or similar access device.
The most common card-based forms of payment are general-purpose cards, which offer widespread merchant acceptance. General purpose cards are
typically categorized as:
• "pay now" cards, such as debit cards, which enable the cardholder to purchase goods and services by an automatic debit to a checking, demand
deposit or other current account;
• "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
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