Visa 2013 Annual Report Download - page 21

wide variety of issues, including identity theft, account management guidelines, privacy, disclosure
rules, security and marketing that could affect our financial institution clients directly. These new
requirements and developments may affect our financial institution clients’ ability to offer existing
products and services, extend credit via payment cards and products, and offer new types of payment
programs, which could decrease our transaction volumes and revenues.
Available Information
We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
(the “Exchange Act”) and its rules and regulations. The Exchange Act requires us to file periodic
reports, proxy statements and other information with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(the “SEC”). Copies of these reports, proxy statements and other information can be viewed at
http://www.sec.gov or at the SEC Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington,
D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the
SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.
Our corporate website is accessible at http://www.corporate.visa.com. We make available, free of
charge, on our investor relations website at http://investor.visa.com our annual reports on Form 10-K,
our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those
reports as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the
SEC. The information contained on our corporate website, including the information contained on our
investor relations website, is not incorporated by reference into this report or any other report filed with,
or furnished to, the SEC.
ITEM 1A. Risk Factors
Regulatory Risks
Additional regulation of interchange reimbursement rates may have a material, adverse impact
on our financial condition, revenues, results of operations, prospects for future growth and
overall business.
We generally do not receive any revenue related to interchange reimbursement fees in a purchase
transaction as those fees are paid by the acquirers to the issuers. They are, however, a factor on which
we compete with other payments providers and are therefore an important determinant of the volume
of transactions we process. Consequently, changes to these fees can substantially affect our revenues
and the pace or breadth of overall payment electronification.
We have historically set default debit interchange reimbursement rates in the United States and
many other geographies. However, the Dodd-Frank Act has limited our ability to establish default debit
interchange reimbursement rates in the United States. See —The Dodd-Frank Act may continue to
have a material, adverse impact on our financial condition, revenues, results of operations, prospects
for future growth and overall business. Interchange reimbursement rates have also become subject to
continued or increased government regulation elsewhere, and regulatory authorities and central banks
in a number of jurisdictions have reviewed or are reviewing these rates. In certain jurisdictions,
interchange reimbursement rates, our operating regulations and related practices are subject to
continuing or increased government regulation. These jurisdictions include, for example, Australia,
Canada, Brazil, Europe, India, Malaysia, Russia and South Africa.
When we cannot set default interchange reimbursement rates at optimal levels, issuers and
acquirers find our payments system less attractive. This lowers overall transaction volume and slows
growth of transactions. It also may increase the attractiveness of other payments systems like
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