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    V
    Earnings call· Dec 2025(Q1 FY26)

    VISA INC. V

    Jan 29, 2026 Source

    Executive summary

    Visa Q1 FY26 — Strong Revenue Growth Driven by Value-Added Services and Commercial Solutions

    Visa delivered a strong fiscal first quarter, driven by robust performance in value-added services and commercial solutions, which offset lower currency volatility. The company continues to invest in its "Visa as a Service" strategy, focusing on credential evolution, agentic commerce, and stablecoin capabilities to drive future growth. Management remains confident in its full-year outlook, anticipating continued momentum in its strategic initiatives.

    Highlights

    5

    • Net revenue grew 15% year-over-year to $10.9 billion.

    • EPS increased 15% year-over-year.

    • Value-added services revenue grew 28% year-over-year in constant dollars to $3.2 billion.

    • Commercial and money movement solutions revenue grew 20% year-over-year in constant dollars.

    • Visa Direct transactions grew 23% to 3.7 billion transactions.

    Concerns

    3

    • Lower-than-expected currency volatility negatively impacted international transaction revenue growth.

    • Client incentives grew 12%, lower than expected due to one-time true-downs and deal timing, which will not carry into Q2.

    • Operating expenses grew 16% year-over-year, above expectations due to unfavorable FX and higher marketing spend.

    Guidance & targets

    11
    CategoryTargetConfidence
    Full-year adjusted net revenue growth
    low double digits
    high materiality
    High
    Full-year adjusted operating expense growth
    low double digits
    high materiality
    High
    Full-year nonoperating expense
    between approximately $100 million and $125 million
    medium materiality
    High
    Full-year tax rate
    between 18% and 18.5%
    medium materiality
    High
    Long-term tax rate
    between 19% and 20%
    medium materiality
    High
    Full-year adjusted EPS growth
    low double digits, albeit a bit higher in the range than previously guided
    high materiality
    High
    Q2 adjusted net revenue growth
    low double digits
    high materiality
    High
    Q2 adjusted operating expense growth
    mid-teens, about 1 point above Q1 adjusted operating expense growth
    medium materiality
    High
    Q2 nonoperating expense
    about $30 million
    medium materiality
    High
    Q2 tax rate
    around 16.5%
    medium materiality
    High
    Q2 adjusted EPS growth
    high end of low double digits
    high materiality
    High

    Operational metrics

    51
    Net Revenue
    $10.9 billionup 15% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    with net revenue up 15% year-over-year to $10.9 billion

    Adjusted EPS
    $3.17up 15% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    EPS was $3.17, up 15% year-over-year, with an approximate 1 point benefit from exchange rates and a minimal impact from acquisitions.

    Global Payments Volume
    $4 trillionup 8% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Payments volume grew 8% year-over-year in constant dollars to nearly $4 trillion

    Processed Transactions
    69 billionup 9% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    and process transactions grew 9% year-over-year, totaling $69 billion

    U.S. Payments Volume
    7%up 7% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    U.S. payment volume was up 7%

    U.S. Credit Payments Volume
    7%up 7% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Credit was up 7%

    U.S. Debit Payments Volume
    6%up 6% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    and debit was up 6%

    International Payments Volume
    9%up 9% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    First quarter total international payments volume was up 9% year-over-year in constant dollars

    Cross-border Volume (ex-intra-Europe)
    11%up 11% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Q1 total cross-border volume was up 11% year-over-year

    Cross-border E-commerce Volume
    12%up 12% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Cross-border e-commerce volume was up 12%

    Travel-related Cross-border Volume
    10%up 10% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Travel-related cross-border volume was up 10%

    Service Revenue Growth
    13%up 13% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Service revenue grew 13% year-over-year versus the 9% growth in Q4 constant dollar payment volume primarily due to pricing and card benefits.

    Data Processing Revenue Growth
    17%up 17% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Data processing revenue grew 17% versus the 9% growth in process transactions, primarily due to pricing, strong value-added services performance and higher cross-border transaction mix.

    International Transaction Revenue Growth
    6%up 6% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    International transaction revenue was up 6%, below an 11% increase in constant dollar cross-border volume growth, excluding intra-Europe.

    Other Revenue Growth
    33%up 33% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Other revenue grew 33% and primarily driven by growth in advisory and other value-added services and pricing.

    Client Incentives Growth
    12%up 12% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Client incentives grew 12%, lower than our expectations due to onetime true downs related to client performance and deal timing.

    Commercial and Money Movement Solutions Revenue Growth
    20%up 20% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Commercial and money movement solutions constant dollar revenue grew 20%

    Commercial Payments Volume Growth
    10%up 10% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    with 10% constant dollar commercial payments volume growth

    Visa Direct Transaction Growth
    23%up 23% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    and 23% Visa Direct transaction growth.

    Visa Direct Transactions
    3.7 billion
    Q1 FY26

    Visa Direct transactions grew 23% to 3.7 billion transactions

    Value-added Services Revenue Growth
    28%up 28% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Value-added services, constant dollar revenue grew 28% and represented around 50% of our overall revenue growth in the first quarter.

    Operating Expenses Growth
    16%up 16% YoY
    Q1 FY26

    Operating expenses grew 16%, above our expectations, primarily due to an unfavorable FX impact from balance sheet remeasurement and higher-than-expected marketing

    Nonoperating Expense
    $4 million
    Q1 FY26

    Nonoperating expense was $4 million, better than our expectations, primarily due to investment income.

    Tax Rate
    18.4%
    Q1 FY26

    Our tax rate for the quarter was 18.4%, slightly higher than expected due to the timing of the resolution of a tax matter.

    Stock Buyback Executed
    $3.8 billion
    Q1 FY26

    In Q1, we bought back approximately $3.8 billion in stock

    Dividends Distributed
    $1.3 billion
    Q1 FY26

    and distributed approximately $1.3 billion in dividends to our shareholders.

    Litigation Escrow Funding
    $500 million
    Q1 FY26

    We also funded the litigation escrow account by $500 million

    Remaining Buyback Authorization
    $21.1 billion
    as of December 31

    At the end of December, we had $21.1 billion remaining in our buyback authorization.

    U.S. Payments Volume
    8%up 8% YoY
    through Jan 21

    U.S. payments volume was up 8%

    U.S. Credit Payments Volume
    9%up 9% YoY
    through Jan 21

    with credit up 9%

    U.S. Debit Payments Volume
    6%up 6% YoY
    through Jan 21

    and debit up 6% year-over-year.

    Cross-border Volume (ex-intra-Europe)
    11%up 11% YoY
    through Jan 21

    Our constant dollar cross-border volume, excluding transactions within Europe, total volume grew 11% year-over-year

    Cross-border E-commerce Volume
    12%up 12% YoY
    through Jan 21

    with e-commerce up 12%

    Travel-related Cross-border Volume
    10%up 10% YoY
    through Jan 21

    and travel up 10%.

    Processed Transactions
    9%up 9% YoY
    through Jan 21

    Process transactions grew 9% year-over-year.

    Total Visa Credentials
    5 billion+
    Q1 FY26

    now totaling more than 5 billion Visa credentials.

    Visa Flex Credentials
    20 million
    Q1 FY26

    Globally, we have about 20 million Visa Flex Credentials

    Total Visa Tokens
    17.5 billion+over 3x the number of physical cards
    Q1 FY26

    We have more than 17.5 billion tokens globally, over 3x the number of physical cards

    Tap to Pay Penetration
    80%+
    Q1 FY26

    Our Tap To Pay penetration has now crossed the 80% mark of all face-to-face transactions

    Tap to Pay Penetration
    70%+
    Q1 FY26

    with the U.S. at nearly 70%.

    Tap to Phone Market Expansion
    20+
    last year

    Our Tap to Phone capability... has added more than 20 new markets

    Tap to Phone Transaction Growth
    doubled
    last year

    and more than doubled transactions in the last year.

    E-commerce Guest Checkout Share
    16%down from 44% in 2019
    FY25

    which we have reduced from 44% of all Visa e-commerce transactions in 2019 to about 16% in fiscal 2025.

    E-commerce Guest Checkout Share
    <4%
    Q1 FY26

    And among our top 25 sellers, it's less than 4%.

    Stablecoin Card Issuance Countries
    50+
    Q1 FY26

    First, we added stablecoin card issuance in 9 additional countries in Q1 to surpass 50 countries worldwide

    Stablecoin Settlement Volume
    $4.6 billion
    annualized run rate

    And total stablecoin settlement has reached an annualized run rate of $4.6 billion globally

    Visa Account Attack Intelligence Transactions Scored
    60 billion+
    last 12 months

    with over 60 billion transactions scored

    Visa Account Attack Intelligence Suspicious Transactions Identified
    600 million+
    last 12 months

    and nearly 600 million suspicious transactions identified in the last 12 months.

    Visa Account Attack Intelligence Fraud Prevented
    $10 billion+
    6 months

    In LAC, for example, in just 6 months, we have almost 90% of clients already activated and have prevented more than $10 billion of fraud.

    Visa Advanced Authorization Expansion
    —
    Q1 FY26

    We have brought our network-agnostic risk solution, Visa Advanced Authorization, to more countries as well, including recently securing the business from Morocco's National Switch, Switch Al Maghrib to score all domestic transactions.

    Visa Protect for A2A Expansion
    2
    Q1 FY26

    We have also expanded our A2A risk solution Visa Protect for A2A to 2 more countries this past quarter, with half a dozen more planned by the end of the year.

    Industry KPIs

    8
    MetricValueDetails
    Capital returns$3.8 billion buyback, $1.3 billion dividendsUSD
    Cross border volume11%%
    Payments volume gdv$4 trillionUSD
    Client incentives rebates12%%
    Cards in force credentials5 billion+credentials
    Net revenue yield take rate—
    Value added services revenue28%%
    Switched processed transactions69 billiontransactions

    Product announcements

    10
    ProductTypeDetails
    Tap to Payexpansion
    Visa Flex Credentialexpansion
    Visa Intelligent Commerce (Agentic Commerce)expansion
    Stablecoin Card Issuanceexpansion
    Stablecoin Settlement Capabilities (USDC)expansion
    Visa Direct Stablecoin Payoutslaunch
    Featurespace (Fraud Prevention)expansion
    Visa Account Attack Intelligenceexpansion
    Visa Advanced Authorizationexpansion
    Visa Protect for A2Aexpansion

    Deals & partnerships

    14
    Block (Cash App)Pilot launch of Cash App Visa Debit Flex Card, enabling Afterpay as a feature. Leverages Visa's DPS issuer processing solution.

    Allows Cash App customers to pay over time anywhere Visa is accepted.

    AWSAgreement to make Visa Intelligent Commerce available on AWS marketplace.

    Supports developers building agentic commerce solutions, connecting secure, automated payment workflows at scale.

    AldarIntegrating Visa Intelligent Commerce to make recurring payments on their Live Alder app.

    Aldar is a leading real estate developer, investor, and manager in CEMEA.

    CloudflarePartnership to bring trust to the agentic environment through Visa Trusted Agent Protocol.

    Cloudflare is a leading Internet security player.

    AkamaiPartnership to bring trust to the agentic environment through Visa Trusted Agent Protocol.

    Akamai is a leading Internet security player.

    GoogleBuilding interoperability between Visa Intelligent Commerce and Google's new Universal Commerce Protocol.

    Global effort to ensure Visa transactions are securely supported as different protocols evolve.

    NuveiExpanded agreement to include Visa Direct to account in addition to card.

    Expanded to more than 30 countries.

    PayPal's XoomExpanded Visa Direct cross-border reach.

    Expanded to more than 60 markets.

    RevolutExpanded partnership to launch Titan in the U.K., an ultra-premium card for high-growth companies.

    Attracted thousands of business customer sign-ups on day 1.

    Edenred PayTechChosen Visa as strategic partner to expand across multiple B2B use cases.

    Includes open-loop workplace benefits, fleet and mobility, B2B travel, insurance payouts, and procure-to-pay.

    Banco BICEPismo's first commercial offering since acquisition, in collaboration with Mendel.

    Business credit corporate issuer processing program for Banco BICE and their large/middle market B2B clients in Chile.

    Finance NowPismo's first fleet card offering.

    In New Zealand. Visa will also provide fleet card issuance, tokenization, and risk services.

    Nets (part of Nexi Group)Chosen Featurespace to expand fraud prevention.

    For 150 banks across Nordic and Central Europe regions, leveraging cloud hosting and advanced fraud models.

    Switch Al MaghribSecured business for Visa Advanced Authorization.

    Morocco's National Switch, to score all domestic transactions.

    Risks & headwinds

    6
    Lower-than-expected currency volatilityQ1 FY26, expected to continue for rest of FY26

    Negatively impacted international transaction revenue growth (up 6% vs 11% cross-border volume growth).

    Mitigation: Offset by Q1 outperformance and higher utilization of products and services.

    Client incentive true-downs and deal timingQ1 FY26, not expected to carry into Q2

    Client incentives grew 12% YoY, lower than expected.

    Mitigation: None stated, but implies higher incentive growth in Q2.

    Higher operating expensesQ1 FY26, expected to be higher in H1 FY26 due to events

    Operating expenses grew 16% YoY, above expectations.

    Mitigation: Primarily due to unfavorable FX and higher marketing for events (FIFA, Olympics), which are associated with incremental revenue.

    U.S. Debit PV step downQ1 FY26

    U.S. debit PV growth was 6% YoY, a slight step down.

    Mitigation: Driven by a Visa Direct client moving volume to its own solution, loss of Interlink volumes, and severe weather. Not a broad deterioration.

    Cross-border e-commerce volume lower growthQ1 FY26

    Cross-border e-commerce volume up 12% YoY, slightly below Q4.

    Mitigation: Primarily from lower growth in cryptocurrency purchases.

    Regulatory intervention (CCCA)Ongoing

    Not quantified, but described as "very harmful" and "not needed".

    Mitigation: Visa is actively educating elected representatives on the competitive environment and potential negative consequences (reduced credit access, eliminated rewards, weaker security, less innovation).

    What to watch in Q2 FY26

    5

    Q2 Adjusted Net Revenue Growth

    Q2 FY26
    CurrentQ1 adjusted net revenue growth was 13% (constant dollars).
    TargetLow double digits.

    Why it matters

    This will indicate the impact of lower pricing contribution, lower volatility, and higher incentive growth on the top line, as guided by management.

    We expect Q2 adjusted net revenue growth in the low double digits. The primary reasons for the step down from Q1 net revenue growth include the lower contribution from pricing, lower volatility and higher incentive growth.

    Q&A highlights

    6

    How do marquee sponsorship events like the Olympics and World Cup translate into value-added services revenue and client engagement, given VAS is a larger part of the business now?

    Visa leverages these sponsorships to offer bespoke programs to clients, ranging from advertising campaigns to client events. This not only generates revenue but also deepens partnerships, leading to more renewals and business.

    “Our value-added services sales teams go to market. They sit with our clients many, many months in advance of these programs, and they design programs that are bespoke and custom built for our clients to help them grow their businesses.”

    asked by Dan Perlin · answered by Ryan McInerney

    2 min read5 chapters

    Detailed Narrative

    01

    Visa as a Service Strategy

    Visa continues to position itself as a payments hyperscaler, building and delivering innovations across its "Visa as a Service" stack. This strategy focuses on enabling ecosystem participants to build, launch, and scale money movement and payment businesses globally, leveraging its core network and value-added services.

    02

    Evolution of Visa Credentials

    The company is enhancing its 5 billion Visa credentials through initiatives like Tap to Pay, which has crossed 80% penetration globally and nearly 70% in the U.S., and the Visa Flex Credential, enabling multiple funding sources from a single card. Tokenization remains a key focus, with over 17.5 billion tokens globally, aiming to replace card-centric PAN technology for enhanced security and user experience in e-commerce.

    03

    Agentic Commerce and Stablecoins

    Visa is actively building out agentic commerce solutions with over 100 partners, utilizing tokens as the foundation for secure, automated payment workflows. In stablecoins, Visa has expanded card issuance to over 50 countries and enabled USDC settlement in the U.S., with annualized settlement run rate of $4.6 billion, focusing on high currency volatility🌐 markets and cross-border disbursements.

    04

    Issuer Processing and Risk Solutions

    Visa is investing in its issuer processing business, including enhancing DPS and integrating Pismo, to help clients modernize their technology stacks and move to the cloud. The company is also expanding its AI-driven risk and security solutions, such as Featurespace for fraud prevention and Visa Account Attack Intelligence, which prevented over $10 billion in fraud in LAC in 6 months.

    05

    Strong Growth Engines

    The company's growth pillars, Commercial and Money Movement Solutions and Value-Added Services, delivered strong results. Commercial and money movement solutions revenue grew 20% in constant dollars, driven by new wins and cross-border strength. Value-added services revenue grew 28% in constant dollars, contributing approximately 50% of overall revenue growth, reflecting strong demand across all portfolios.

    AI-generated summary of the company’s earnings call. Not investment advice.