Explanation for the difference between international transaction revenue growth (6%) and cross-border volume growth (12%).

The delta is primarily due to lapping the peak volatility from Q3 last year and the mix of business, including lower-yield products like Visa Direct and variations across regions/currencies. “The difference that you point out between international transaction revenue and the volume -- the cross-border volume I talked to is really related to 2 things. And there are similar things that I've spoken about in previous quarters. One is volatility... And then the second factor is the mix of the business.”

Clarification on the strategy (new revenue, deepening relationships) and target bank size (large vs. small/fintechs) for these initiatives.

The strategy is to solve client needs for modernizing stacks and accelerating product innovation. In the U.S., DPS serves all banks, while Pismo combined with DPS offers integrated debit/credit processing for small/mid-sized banks and fintechs. Large issuers are expected to maintain customized platforms. Outside the U.S., Pismo is the single go-to-market platform for issuer processing and core banking. “Increasingly in the U.S., what we're seeing is smaller banks and midsized banks as well as fintechs are looking for an integrated debit and credit processing solution that will help them simplify their operations and accelerate product innovation.”

Whether savings from workforce reductions will be fully reinvested or drop to the bottom line, and the expected return period for these reinvestments.

The company continually drives efficiencies and reinvests savings into enormous investment opportunities across consumer payments, VAS, CMS, stablecoins, and agentic. This strategy has historically driven accelerated performance and is expected to continue to fuel future growth while maintaining industry-leading operating margins. “The investments that we have in front of us are enormous. I think what we've shown over the last couple of years is that we can drive efficiencies. We can take the savings that we generate from those efficiencies, and we can invest those savings against the strategic levers that we laid out at our strategy at our Investor Day and deliver accelerated performance as a result.”

Visa (V) Q3 FY26 earnings call: guidance and Q&A

Q: Quantification of FIFA's boost to cross-border travel numbers in June/July and how to normalize for it going forward.

Cross-border business remains healthy, with FIFA helping inbound North America and Latin America in June. However, cross-border volumes are well-distributed, and the underlying health of travel and e-commerce is strong, which is expected to continue into Q4. “The overall underlying health of travel and e-commerce continues to be healthy, and that's something that we anticipate will continue into Q4.”

Earnings call· Jun 2026 (Q3 FY26)· Financials· Jul 28, 2026

Source: earnings call transcript

Executive summary

Visa Q3 FY26 — Strong Growth Across Payments, VAS, and Strategic Innovation

Visa delivered a robust quarter, driven by resilient consumer spending and strong execution across its strategic pillars. The company saw significant growth in payments volume, processed transactions, and value-added services, while advancing product innovation through AI and stablecoin initiatives. Management is focused on driving efficiency and reinvesting savings to fuel future growth, positioning Visa for continued leadership in the evolving payments landscape.

Highlights

Net revenue increased 14% year-over-year to $11.6 billion.
EPS grew 11% year-over-year.
Quarterly payments volume crossed $4 trillion for the first time, up 10% year-over-year in constant dollars.
Processed transactions grew 10% year-over-year to $72 billion.
Value-added services revenue surged 34% year-over-year in constant dollars to $3.8 billion.

Concerns

Operating expenses grew 17% year-over-year, primarily due to larger-than-expected FX impact and higher personnel expense.
The company incurred $563 million in severance costs related to workforce reductions.
Q4 incentive growth is expected to be slightly above Q3 on a nominal basis, potentially impacting net revenue yield.

Guidance & targets

Category	Target	Timeline	Confidence
Q4 FY26 Net Revenue Growth	high end of low-double digits high materiality	Q4 · FY26	High
Q4 FY26 Operating Expense Growth	low-double digits medium materiality	Q4 · FY26	High
Q4 FY26 Nonoperating Expense	about $80 million low materiality	Q4 · FY26	High
Q4 FY26 Tax Rate	around 19% low materiality	Q4 · FY26	High
Q4 FY26 EPS Growth	low end of mid-teens high materiality	Q4 · FY26	High
Full Year FY26 Net Revenue Growth	low end of low teens high materiality	Full Year FY26	High
Full Year FY26 Operating Expense Growth	low end of low teens medium materiality	Full Year FY26	High
Full Year FY26 Nonoperating Expense	about $165 million low materiality	Full Year FY26	High
Full Year FY26 Tax Rate	between 18% and 18.25% low materiality	Full Year FY26	High
Full Year FY26 EPS Growth	low end of mid-teens high materiality	Full Year FY26	High

V operating KPIs by quarter

V operating KPIs stated on its earnings calls, by fiscal quarter
KPI	Dec 2024 Q1 FY25	Mar 2025 Q2 FY25	Jun 2025 Q3 FY25	Sep 2025 Q4 FY25	Dec 2025 Q1 FY26	Mar 2026 Q2 FY26	This call Jun 2026 Q3 FY26	Change vs prior quarter
Visa Direct transactions	<3B Visa Direct has now crossed the $10 billion transaction mark over the last 12 months with nearly 3 billion transactions this quarter. Source: earnings call transcript	3B Commercial and money movement solutions revenue grew 13% year-over-year in constant dollars driven by commercial payment volume growth of 6% year-over-year in constant dollars, consistent with last quarter; and Visa Direct transaction growth of 28% year-over-year to 3 billion transactions, below Q1 growth primarily due to the lapping of our initial ramp in Latin America for interoperability among P2P apps and the lapping of leap year. Source: earnings call transcript	3.3B Visa Direct transactions grew 25% year-over-year to 3.3 billion transactions with strength in both domestic and cross-border P2P. Source: earnings call transcript	3.4B Visa Direct transactions grew 23% to 3.4 billion transactions with strength in both domestic and cross-border. Source: earnings call transcript	3.7B Visa Direct transactions grew 23% to 3.7 billion transactions, with strength in both domestic and cross-border. Source: earnings call transcript	3.7B In Q2, we had 3.7 billion transactions, up 23% year-over-year. Source: earnings call transcript	4B In money movement, Visa Direct transactions grew 21% year-over-year this quarter to $4 billion. Source: earnings call transcript	+8.1%
Employees	—	31.6K+ For the rest of the year and beyond, what I, our leadership team, and our more than 31,600 employees are focused on is serving our clients and capturing the enormous opportunities ahead. Source: earnings call transcript	—	34K+ I want to thank our more than 34,000 employees around the world who will continue to obsess about our clients and work tirelessly in 2026 and beyond to deliver value through the Visa as a Service stack to our clients and across our partner ecosystem. Source: earnings call transcript	—	—	—	—
Tokens	—	—	—	16B+ We now have over 16 billion Visa tokens, up from 10 billion just in May of 2024. Source: earnings call transcript	17.5B+ We have more than 17.5 billion tokens globally, over 3x the number of physical cards, which means that the solution has been embraced broadly across the ecosystem. Source: earnings call transcript	—	—	—
Processed transactions	—	—	—	—	—	66B Payments volume grew 9% year-over-year in constant dollars to $3.7 trillion and processed transactions grew 9% year-over-year to $66 billion. Source: earnings call transcript	72B Quarterly payments volume grew 10% year-over-year in constant dollars to cross $4 trillion, the first time in Visa's history, and processed transactions grew 10% year-over-year to $72 billion, reflecting strong and resilient consumer spending. Source: earnings call transcript	+9.1%

Operating figures the company stated on at least two of the calls shown, checked against each call's transcript. Click a figure to read the sentence. A dash means it was not stated that quarter.

Product announcements

Product	Type	Timeline
Visa Stablecoin Platform	launch	—
DPS Full Service credit	launch	piloting in Q4 FY26, generally available next year
CyberSource Unified Checkout	launch	launched globally in March
Visa Vulnerability agentic harness	launch	available now

Deals & partnerships

NatWest Won the entire consumer credit portfolio of their retail bank in Europe.

Demonstrates the strength of Visa's strategic partnership with NatWest, which has been restored over the past 5 years.

Bradesco Renewed 55-year relationship in Brazil. 55 years

Covers consumer credit and debit, commercial credit and debit, and several value-added services.

Grupo Aval Signed an agreement in Colombia representing 4 banks.

Aims to drive domestic processing, enable Visa Direct cross-border transactions, and support commercial card issuance in small business. Visa's processing penetration in Colombia is now above 90%.

Colony Bank Won the consumer debit portfolio of a large Southeast community institution in the U.S.

Testament to Visa's clear strategic alignment with clients and the strength of its debit network and value-added services.

Corpay Signed an agreement to bring Visa's Fleet 2.0 solution to their fleet card platform in Europe.

Supports new opportunities across the region with capabilities such as EMV chips, digital wallet provisioning, contactless payments, rich transaction data, and global acceptance.

Alrajhi Bank Signed an inaugural B2B travel portfolio in Saudi Arabia for Visa Commercial Choice travel product.

Provides flexible interchange, automation, controls, and reconciliation for their OTA clients.

Nium Renewed partnership for virtual cards in the U.S. and across 6 countries in Europe and Asia Pacific.

Nium is a fast-growing B2B travel issuer.

DoorDash Enabled Visa Direct to-card for DoorDash's Crimson platform.

Crimson is a dedicated personal banking and rewards program built specifically for Dashers who receive a Visa debit card.

Open Standard Joined Open Standard, which plans to issue Open USD, a new stablecoin.

Visa looks forward to helping connect Open USD to real-world payments. Open Standard is designed with neutral governance and shared economics.

OpenAI Partnering to enable secure Visa payments within agentic commerce.

Visa will provide its global network, credentialing capabilities, and security infrastructure to support agentic commerce experiences.

Meta Enabling new ways to pay across Facebook and Instagram, powered by Visa Intelligent Commerce.

Allows consumers to transact seamlessly and securely with Visa tokens.

FIFA Extended long-standing global partnership agreement as the official payment technology partner for FIFA tournaments.

Unique sponsorship assets like these make Visa a partner of choice for its value-added services.

Risks & headwinds

Geopolitical conflict impact on cross-border travel Q3 FY26

Offsetting factor for cross-border travel volume.

Volatility impact on revenue Q4 FY26

Current volatility levels (in line with Q1) are assumed to persist, implying more of a drag than previously incorporated for Q4.

Mitigation:Management assumes broader consumer spend stability continues and overall drivers remain resilient.

Workforce reduction costs Q3 FY26

$563 million in severance costs related to changes to the workforce.

Mitigation:These changes are intended to drive efficiency across the company and reinvest savings in high-potential growth opportunities.

What to watch in Q4 FY26

FY27 Guidance

next quarter

Current Not yet provided

Target New full-year guidance for FY27

Why it matters

The FY27 guidance will provide crucial insights into management's outlook on macroeconomic conditions, key business drivers, and strategic priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.

All of this will result in our guidance that we will provide next quarter.

Find out whether V delivers this. Inve re-checks your case every morning.

Q&A highlights

Quantification of FIFA's boost to cross-border travel numbers in June/July and how to normalize for it going forward.

Cross-border business remains healthy, with FIFA helping inbound North America and Latin America in June. However, cross-border volumes are well-distributed, and the underlying health of travel and e-commerce is strong, which is expected to continue into Q4.

“The overall underlying health of travel and e-commerce continues to be healthy, and that's something that we anticipate will continue into Q4.”

asked by William Nance · answered by Christopher Suh

2 min read 6 chapters

Detailed narrative

Strategic Wins and Client Relationships

Visa achieved an NPS score of 76 for the third consecutive year, with increases from sellers and fintechs, reflecting strong client trust. The company secured significant wins, including NatWest's entire consumer credit portfolio in Europe and a 55-year relationship renewal with Bradesco in Brazil.

In Colombia, an agreement with Grupo Aval will drive domestic processing and Visa Direct cross-border transactions, while Colony Bank in the U.S. selected Visa for its consumer debit portfolio. These wins underscore Visa's ability to scale and grow client businesses through its Visa-as-a-Service stack.

Product Innovation and AI Integration

Visa is leveraging AI to transform product development, moving from AI assistance to agentic AI for executing tasks with supervision. This new approach has led to smaller, more nimble agentic squads, resulting in 80% more code commits and 65% faster feature development.

The company now has over 150 AI-powered applications and has shipped more than 300 major product releases in the last 12 months, demonstrating increased velocity and continuous innovation.

Advancements in Stablecoin and Agentic Commerce

Visa is actively investing across the stablecoin stack, joining Open Standard to issue Open USD and launching the Visa Stablecoin Platform for minting, movement, and management. This platform will enable partners to settle with Visa in stablecoins and facilitate fiat-to-stablecoin movement.

In agentic commerce, Visa is partnering with OpenAI to enable secure payments and with Meta for Visa Intelligent Commerce, building infrastructure like a token assurance framework to ensure transparent and trusted agent-initiated transactions.

Value-Added Services (VAS) Momentum

Value-added services revenue grew 34% in constant dollars, driven by network products like Subscription Manager and Stop Payment Services, which now have 2 billion credentials enrolled. New offerings include an AI financial assistant for banks and DPS Full Service credit for fintechs and small-to-midsized banks.

CyberSource's Unified Checkout launched globally, adopted by over 4,500 sellers, and the Visa Vulnerability agentic harness leverages AI for risk and security. FIFA World Cup engagements significantly boosted marketing services, with campaigns driving card activation and incremental payments volume.

U.S. Payments Volume and Cross-Border Trends

U.S. payments volume grew 10% year-over-year, the highest rate since FY19 (excluding post-COVID recovery), with broad-based strength across credit, debit, discretionary, and non-discretionary spend. This acceleration was attributed to factors like higher tax refunds, fuel costs, retail promotional events, strong Visa Direct growth, and FIFA-related spend.

Cross-border volume, excluding intra-Europe, increased 12%, with e-commerce up 16% and travel up 10%, benefiting from the FIFA World Cup in North and Latin America.

Workforce Optimization and Capital Allocation

Visa announced workforce reductions, primarily in technology and product teams, to drive efficiency and reinvest savings into high-potential growth opportunities. The company bought back $4.9 billion in stock and distributed $1.3 billion in dividends this quarter, with $28.4 billion remaining in buyback authorization. This strategy aims to maintain industry-leading operating margins while fueling future growth across consumer payments, commercial solutions, and value-added services.

Summary of the company's earnings call; see how call summaries are prepared. Not investment advice.