Visa 2015 Annual Report Download - page 22

•Credit. Our credit payment solutions support issuers’ deferred payment and customized
financing products.
Our core processing services involve the routing of payment information and related data to
facilitate the authorization, clearing and settlement of transactions between our issuers and acquirers.
VisaNet is built on a centralized architecture, enabling us to view and analyze each authorization
transaction we process in real time and to provide value-added services, including information
products, such as risk scoring and loyalty applications, while the transaction data is being routed
through our network.
Visa’s processing services continue to expand to address the needs of participants in the evolving
payments ecosystem, through such offerings as our merchant gateway and Visa Debit Processing
Services (“DPS”). Merchant gateway services provided through our CyberSource subsidiaries enable
gateway routing and other services that make it easier for eCommerce merchants to accept, process
and reconcile payments, manage fraud and safeguard payment security online. DPS provides
comprehensive issuer processing services for participating issuers of Visa debit, prepaid and ATM
payment products. These and other services support our issuers and acquirers and their use of our
products, and promote the growth and security of our payments network.
Processing Infrastructure
VisaNet consists of multiple synchronized processing centers, including two data centers in the
U.S. that are linked by a global telecommunications network and are engineered for redundancy. In
addition, in accordance with the terms of the Framework Agreement among Visa Inc., Visa Europe
Limited and others, Visa Europe’s processing centers in the United Kingdom must maintain
interoperability with Visa’s synchronized system. Intelligent access points around the world complete
the VisaNet global processing infrastructure and enable merchants and financial institution clients
worldwide to access our core processing and value-added services.
Visa also owns and manages additional data centers in the U.S. and internationally that enable
transaction services and provide uninterrupted connectivity for account holders, our financial institution
clients and our processing partners.
Intellectual Property
Our portfolio of trademarks, in particular our family of Visa marks, our PLUS mark and our Dove
design mark, are important to our business. Through agreements with our issuers, we authorize the
use of our trademarks in connection with their participation in our payments network. We own a
number of patents and patent applications relating to payment solutions, transaction processing,
security systems and other matters. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and
trade secret laws in the U.S. and other jurisdictions, as well as confidentiality procedures and
contractual provisions, to protect our proprietary technology.
Seasonality
We generally do not experience any pronounced seasonality in our business. No individual quarter
of fiscal 2015 or fiscal 2014 accounted for more than 30% of our operating revenues in those years.
Working Capital
Payments settlement due to and from our financial institution clients can represent a substantial
daily working capital requirement. U.S. dollar settlements are typically settled within the same day and
do not result in a receivable or payable balance, while settlement in currencies other than the U.S.
dollar generally remain outstanding for one to two business days, which is consistent with industry
practice for such transactions.
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