Visa 2013 Annual Report Download - page 32

Negative perception of our company in the marketplace may affect our brands and reputation,
which are key assets of our business.
Our brands and their attributes are key assets of our business. The ability to attract and retain
account holders and financial institution clients to Visa-branded products depends highly upon the
external perceptions of our company and our industry’s quality of service, corporate responsibility, use
and protection of account holder data, regulatory compliance, financial condition and other factors.
Negative perception or publicity, particularly in light of the rapid, widespread use of social media
channels, could cause damage to our brands and reputation. Our business may also be affected by
actions taken by our clients, other third parties or circumstances that are outside our control:
• Our clients may take actions that we do not believe to be in the best interests of our brands,
such as adverse creditor practices.
• Our limited control over the quality of service and promotion of our brands in Europe could
affect our brands and reputation globally. While Visa Europe has very broad latitude to use our
brands and technology within its region, Visa Europe is not required to spend any minimum
amount of money conducting research on brand performance, promoting or maintaining the
strength of our brands.
• We may be associated with adverse developments with respect to our industry, and with new
rules and regulations concerning human rights conditions, our corporate responsibility
regarding those conditions and resulting disclosure requirements.
• Any negative perception of the United States arising from its political, economic, social or
other positions could harm the perception of our company and our brands globally by
associating Visa with those positions.
Any of these factors could require us to take on additional liabilities and costs, result in greater
regulatory or legislative scrutiny, and materially and adversely affect our revenues, operating results,
prospects for future growth and overall business.
Unprecedented economic events in financial markets around the world have affected and are
likely to continue to affect our clients, merchants and account holders, and may potentially
impact our prospects, profitability, revenue and overall business.
The current threats to economic growth include geopolitical instability in the Middle East, which
could affect oil prices, economic fragility in the Eurozone and in the United States, potential reduction
or tapering of bond purchases by the U.S. Federal Reserve, higher interest rates hurting the housing
markets, persistently weak job creation, political discord, spending cuts and debt defaults. While there
continues to be some improvements in advanced economies, emerging economies continue to suffer
with slower growth. Consumer spending continues to be impacted from consumer debt levels, excess
housing inventory, deflation, changes in savings rates, continued equity market volatility, decreased
export activity, lowered government spending and additional government intervention. Furthermore,
continued challenges in the credit environment, bank instability, downgrades of sovereign, bank and
commercial debt, political issues affecting the handling of national debt, and the uncertainty arising
from new government policies all must be considered.
The fragility of the current situation would be exacerbated if additional negative economic
developments or crises were to arise around the world. These include defaults on government debt,
exhaustion of national economic stimulus packages, significant increases in oil prices, tax increases, a
significant decline in the commercial real estate market and policy missteps. Most recently, the
economic situations in the United States and various countries in Europe have been particularly
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