6-Month Delay of Fed’s Debit-Card ‘Swipe’ Fee Rules Weighed by Senators

A Federal Reserve rule capping debit- card “swipe” fees set by Visa Inc. (V) and MasterCard Inc. (MA) would be delayed at least six months under a plan being crafted in the U.S. Senate, said two people with direct knowledge of the talks....read more at Bloomberg

Visa Inc. to Announce Fiscal Third Quarter 2010 Financial Results on July 28, 2010

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SAN FRANCISCO, June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) will report its fiscal third quarter 2010 financial results on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. The results will be included in a press release, with accompanying financial information that will be released after market close and posted on the Visa Investor Relations website.

Visa's executive management team will then host a live audio webcast beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Pacific Time) to discuss the financial results and business highlights.

All interested parties are invited to listen to the live webcast at http://investor.visa.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on Visa's Investor Relations website for 30 days.

Concurrent with this press release, Visa will impose its customary "quiet period", during which time company executives will not be interacting with the investment community. This quiet period will extend until fiscal third quarter earnings are released onJuly 28, 2010.

About Visa:  Visa operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries.  For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

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• Visa's Days of Dominating the Debit Card Market May Be Numbered (pindebit.blogspot.com)

EU antitrust case against Visa: FAQs

Finextra reports:



Antitrust: Commission market tests Visa Europe's commitments to cut Multilateral Interchange Fees (MIFs) for debit cards transactions - frequently asked questions.

Interchange fees are charged by a cardholder's bank (the 'issuing bank') to a merchant's bank (the 'acquiring bank') for each sales transaction made at a merchant outlet with a payment card.

Interchange fees are either agreed bilaterally, between one issuing and one acquiring bank, or multilaterally, by a number of issuing/acquiring banks or by means of a decision binding all banks participating in a payment card scheme. The industry refers to these multilateral interchange fees as "MIFs". A MIF can be a percentage, a flat fee or a combined fee (percentage and flat fee).

When a customer uses a payment card to buy from a merchant, the merchant receives from his bank (the acquiring bank) the sales price less a 'merchant service charge', the fee a merchant must pay to his bank for accepting the card as means of payment for that transaction. A large part of the merchant service charge is determined by the interchange fee. The customer's bank (the issuing bank), in turn, pays the acquiring bank the sales price minus the MIF and the sales price is deducted from the customer's bank account. The MIF is therefore a cost that is finally charged to the merchant (through the reduction of the purchase price) who passes the costs on to consumers in the price level of the good or service.

What are the Commission's competition concerns as regards interchange fees?

Continue Reading at Finexrtra

EU antitrust case against Visa: FAQs

Finextra reports:



Antitrust: Commission market tests Visa Europe's commitments to cut Multilateral Interchange Fees (MIFs) for debit cards transactions - frequently asked questions.

Interchange fees are charged by a cardholder's bank (the 'issuing bank') to a merchant's bank (the 'acquiring bank') for each sales transaction made at a merchant outlet with a payment card.

Interchange fees are either agreed bilaterally, between one issuing and one acquiring bank, or multilaterally, by a number of issuing/acquiring banks or by means of a decision binding all banks participating in a payment card scheme. The industry refers to these multilateral interchange fees as "MIFs". A MIF can be a percentage, a flat fee or a combined fee (percentage and flat fee).

When a customer uses a payment card to buy from a merchant, the merchant receives from his bank (the acquiring bank) the sales price less a 'merchant service charge', the fee a merchant must pay to his bank for accepting the card as means of payment for that transaction. A large part of the merchant service charge is determined by the interchange fee. The customer's bank (the issuing bank), in turn, pays the acquiring bank the sales price minus the MIF and the sales price is deducted from the customer's bank account. The MIF is therefore a cost that is finally charged to the merchant (through the reduction of the purchase price) who passes the costs on to consumers in the price level of the good or service.

What are the Commission's competition concerns as regards interchange fees?

Continue Reading at Finexrtra

Visa Reports 33% Jump in Quarterly Income to $713 Million

Visa announced their Q2 Results which are as follows:



Visa Inc. reported a 33% jump in quarterly net income.



Q2 net income was $713 million, or 96 cents per class A common share.



That compared to $536 million, or 71 cents per class A common share, the previous year.  



Net operating revenue came in at $2 billion, up 19%.



Here's the press release:

Visa Inc. Posts Strong Fiscal Second Quarter 2010 Earnings Results

GAAP quarterly net income of $713 million or $0.96 per diluted class A common share - Revenue growth of 19% as payments volumes and processed transactions improve globally

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Visa Inc. (V 92.10, -1.51, -1.61%) today announced financial results for the Company's fiscal second quarter 2010 ended March 31, 2010. GAAP net income for the quarter was $713 million, or $0.96 per diluted class A common share. The weighted average number of diluted class A common shares outstanding was 742 million.

GAAP net operating revenue in the fiscal second quarter of 2010 was $2.0 billion, an increase of 19% over the prior year and driven by strong contributions across all revenue categories, in particular data processing and international transaction revenues.

"Visa delivered strong financial performance during our fiscal second quarter and we remain confident in delivering our guidance for fiscal year 2010," said Joseph Saunders, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. "Our performance was fueled by higher than expected payments volume growth. As I discussed at our recent Investor Day, we are increasingly optimistic that economic growth will gradually improve. At the same time, we remain diligent about how we manage our business and finances throughout the current economic environment."

"Visa's long term strategic goals and our ability to drive the migration to Visa products and services are based on our history of innovation and market responsiveness," added Saunders. "Our pending acquisition of CyberSource is the most recent example of the Company responding to market opportunities to fuel future growth. We remain focused on enhancing product offerings and providing new technologies to our clients and customers, while we continue to deliver value to our shareholders."

Visa Reports 33% Jump in Quarterly Income to $713 Million

Visa announced their Q2 Results which are as follows:



Visa Inc. reported a 33% jump in quarterly net income.



Q2 net income was $713 million, or 96 cents per class A common share.



That compared to $536 million, or 71 cents per class A common share, the previous year.  



Net operating revenue came in at $2 billion, up 19%.



Here's the press release:

Visa Inc. Posts Strong Fiscal Second Quarter 2010 Earnings Results

GAAP quarterly net income of $713 million or $0.96 per diluted class A common share - Revenue growth of 19% as payments volumes and processed transactions improve globally

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Visa Inc. (V 92.10, -1.51, -1.61%) today announced financial results for the Company's fiscal second quarter 2010 ended March 31, 2010. GAAP net income for the quarter was $713 million, or $0.96 per diluted class A common share. The weighted average number of diluted class A common shares outstanding was 742 million.

GAAP net operating revenue in the fiscal second quarter of 2010 was $2.0 billion, an increase of 19% over the prior year and driven by strong contributions across all revenue categories, in particular data processing and international transaction revenues.

"Visa delivered strong financial performance during our fiscal second quarter and we remain confident in delivering our guidance for fiscal year 2010," said Joseph Saunders, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. "Our performance was fueled by higher than expected payments volume growth. As I discussed at our recent Investor Day, we are increasingly optimistic that economic growth will gradually improve. At the same time, we remain diligent about how we manage our business and finances throughout the current economic environment."

"Visa's long term strategic goals and our ability to drive the migration to Visa products and services are based on our history of innovation and market responsiveness," added Saunders. "Our pending acquisition of CyberSource is the most recent example of the Company responding to market opportunities to fuel future growth. We remain focused on enhancing product offerings and providing new technologies to our clients and customers, while we continue to deliver value to our shareholders."

Visa Expands Small Business Savings Program with Leading Companies

Visa SavingsEdge Program Designed to Help Small Businesses Control Costs with Discount on Qualifying Purchases at Leading Companies Such as Staples, Orbitz, USA TODAY, La Quinta Inns & Suites and Box.net

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced the latest companies to join Visa SavingsEdge, Visa’s small business savings program, including Staples, Orbitz, USA TODAY, La Quinta Inns & Suites and Box.net. The Visa SavingsEdge program is designed to help small businesses save money by providing automatic discounts on qualifying purchases made with an eligible, enrolled Visa Business credit or debit card [¹]. Small business cardholders that participate in the program currently have access to savings with merchants at over 14,000 physical retail locations, in addition to discounts at 50,000 hotels through Orbitz.

“Participating in Visa SavingsEdge provides another avenue for Staples to reach its customers with relevant and compelling offers and reflects our ability to provide the types of products and services that businesses need at a great value”

“Visa SavingsEdge extends the purchasing power of Visa Small Business cardholders, by offering automatic discounts on everyday purchases from participating merchants,” said Raghav Lal, Head of Global Small Business, Visa Inc. “Visa SavingsEdge allows enrolled small business cardholders to take advantage of discounts that are more typically available only to larger businesses.”

Below is a sample of some of the offers currently included in the Visa SavingsEdge program[²]:

• 5% off purchases of $100 or more at Staples and Staples.com


• 5% off rooms booked on Orbitz.com


• 10% off USA TODAY subscriptions


• 5% off completed stays at La Quinta Inns & Suites


• 15% off Box.net Cloud Content Management Solution

Visa SavingsEdge

Launched in 2008, Visa SavingsEdge offers a unique and compelling selection of discount offers from participating merchants that are intended to meet the diverse needs of small businesses everywhere, providing automatic discounts on travel and office supplies as well as marketing services, gifts and computer equipment. The discounts require no coupons or codes, because they are applied as statement credits on future account statements. Through participating issuers, over 10 million Visa Small Business cardholders are eligible to enroll in this program today.

Visa SavingsEdge can be a helpful tool for small business owners who want to control expenses and manage cash flow in a more effective manner. Recent Visa Business research indicates 52% of small business owners listed cash flow as a primary concern. [³].

“Participating in Visa SavingsEdge provides another avenue for Staples to reach its customers with relevant and compelling offers and reflects our ability to provide the types of products and services that businesses need at a great value,” said John Giusti, vice president of small business marketing, Staples, Inc.

Visa and Small Business

Visa provides a suite of payment cards and payments related services that issuers deliver directly to small business customers to help them manage and grow their businesses. Visa’s complete offering of small business tools includes Visa SavingsEdge, in addition to solutions ranging from spend management and monitoring software to optimization and cash flow tools.

1] SavingsEdge is available to cardholders of participating issuers who enroll by registering their card at: www.visasavingsedge.com.

2] Merchant offers are subject to terms and conditions at www.visasavingsedge.com.

3] The full Spend Insights report is available online at: http://usa.visa.com/business/resource_center/spend_insights.html

About Visa Inc.

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is the world’s most advanced processing network—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 10,000 transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visitwww.corporate.visa.com.

Contacts

Visa Inc.

Matthew Flegal, 415-932-2564

globalmedia@visa.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100406005584/en/Visa-Expands-Small-Business-Savings-Program-Leading

Visa Expands Small Business Savings Program with Leading Companies

Visa SavingsEdge Program Designed to Help Small Businesses Control Costs with Discount on Qualifying Purchases at Leading Companies Such as Staples, Orbitz, USA TODAY, La Quinta Inns & Suites and Box.net

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced the latest companies to join Visa SavingsEdge, Visa’s small business savings program, including Staples, Orbitz, USA TODAY, La Quinta Inns & Suites and Box.net. The Visa SavingsEdge program is designed to help small businesses save money by providing automatic discounts on qualifying purchases made with an eligible, enrolled Visa Business credit or debit card [¹]. Small business cardholders that participate in the program currently have access to savings with merchants at over 14,000 physical retail locations, in addition to discounts at 50,000 hotels through Orbitz.

“Participating in Visa SavingsEdge provides another avenue for Staples to reach its customers with relevant and compelling offers and reflects our ability to provide the types of products and services that businesses need at a great value”

“Visa SavingsEdge extends the purchasing power of Visa Small Business cardholders, by offering automatic discounts on everyday purchases from participating merchants,” said Raghav Lal, Head of Global Small Business, Visa Inc. “Visa SavingsEdge allows enrolled small business cardholders to take advantage of discounts that are more typically available only to larger businesses.”

Below is a sample of some of the offers currently included in the Visa SavingsEdge program[²]:

• 5% off purchases of $100 or more at Staples and Staples.com


• 5% off rooms booked on Orbitz.com


• 10% off USA TODAY subscriptions


• 5% off completed stays at La Quinta Inns & Suites


• 15% off Box.net Cloud Content Management Solution

Visa SavingsEdge

Launched in 2008, Visa SavingsEdge offers a unique and compelling selection of discount offers from participating merchants that are intended to meet the diverse needs of small businesses everywhere, providing automatic discounts on travel and office supplies as well as marketing services, gifts and computer equipment. The discounts require no coupons or codes, because they are applied as statement credits on future account statements. Through participating issuers, over 10 million Visa Small Business cardholders are eligible to enroll in this program today.

Visa SavingsEdge can be a helpful tool for small business owners who want to control expenses and manage cash flow in a more effective manner. Recent Visa Business research indicates 52% of small business owners listed cash flow as a primary concern. [³].

“Participating in Visa SavingsEdge provides another avenue for Staples to reach its customers with relevant and compelling offers and reflects our ability to provide the types of products and services that businesses need at a great value,” said John Giusti, vice president of small business marketing, Staples, Inc.

Visa and Small Business

Visa provides a suite of payment cards and payments related services that issuers deliver directly to small business customers to help them manage and grow their businesses. Visa’s complete offering of small business tools includes Visa SavingsEdge, in addition to solutions ranging from spend management and monitoring software to optimization and cash flow tools.

1] SavingsEdge is available to cardholders of participating issuers who enroll by registering their card at: www.visasavingsedge.com.

2] Merchant offers are subject to terms and conditions at www.visasavingsedge.com.

3] The full Spend Insights report is available online at: http://usa.visa.com/business/resource_center/spend_insights.html

About Visa Inc.

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is the world’s most advanced processing network—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 10,000 transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visitwww.corporate.visa.com.

Contacts

Visa Inc.

Matthew Flegal, 415-932-2564

globalmedia@visa.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100406005584/en/Visa-Expands-Small-Business-Savings-Program-Leading

Visa Inc. to Present at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) announced today that Byron Pollitt, Chief Financial Officer, will present at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco on Thursday, February 25, 2010. The fireside chat will begin at 9:40 a.m. Pacific Time and last for approximately 40 minutes.



A listen-only audio webcast and replay will be accessible for 30 days on the Investor Relations web site at http://investor.visa.com.



About Visa Inc.



Visa operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

MasterCard and Visa Financial Results Released

MasterCard has reported financial results for the second quarter of 2008.



"MasterCard's worldwide purchase volume during the quarter rose 14.0% to $493 billion and its gross dollar volume increased 12.8% to $655 billion. Transactions processed grew 13.6% to 5.2 billion. MasterCard reported 951 million MasterCard cards issued, up 11%. Net revenue for the second quarter of 2008 was $1.2 billion, up 25.0%. Pricing changes contributed approximately 5 percentage points of the net revenue growth".



Click the links to view the webcast ...or to view the accompanying presentation.

Yesterday, Visa Inc. also released  it's third quarter financial results) stating that:  



"payments volume grew 19% to $652 billion and total volume, including cash, grew 22% to $1.0 trillion. Cards issued grew 14% worldwide to 1.6 billion and payments transaction volume grew 15% to 10.7 billion transactions. Total processed transactions were 9.5 billion, up 13%."



Click the links to view the webcast. or if you prefer, a presentation on the quarterly results can be viewed by clicking that link.

Discover Seeks $6 Billion in Damages from V/MC

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Discover Financial Services is seeking $6 billion in damages from Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. in an antitrust lawsuit accusing the bigger credit-card rivals of squashing competition.

The damages, which may be tripled, were included in confidential filings unsealed today in federal court in the Southern District of New York. Visa said today the amount was ``dramatically overstated'' and MasterCard called the suit ``baseless.'' Both companies fell in New York trading.

"The numbers on potential damages Discover is seeking are large,'' Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst at KBW Inc. in New York, said in an interview. ``However we think a settlement for a meaningfully smaller amount still remains a likely scenario.''

Discover, the fourth-largest credit-card network, filed a lawsuit in October 2004 against Visa and MasterCard, claiming the two largest networks broke the law by barring member banks from offering rival cards. Visa agreed last year to pay $2.25 billion to American Express Co. in a settlement of a parallel suit, an amount Discover Chief Executive Officer David Nelms called ``cheap.'' MasterCard dropped $1.42 to $294.31 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange trading and Visa fell $1.51, or 1.8 percent, to $82.14. Discover fell 37 cents to $15.33. No Improvement Visa and MasterCard issued separate statements saying Discover's credit and debit businesses haven't benefited much since the ban was lifted, letting banks issue Discover cards along with Visa or MasterCard cards.

"Discover has not seen any increase in its overall percentage of the credit-card volume share'' after the policies were changed, Sharon Gamsin, spokeswoman for Purchase, New York- based MasterCard, said in the statement.

Visa, based in San Francisco, set aside $650 million for a possible Discover settlement from the $3 billion fund established after its record March initial public offering. The funds come from IPO proceeds of banks that owned the network, and the companies are obliged to pay for a larger Discover settlement if needed.

MasterCard didn't set up a similar system when it went public, which means shareholders may be affected by future settlements, Sakhrani said. He rates Visa and MasterCard ``outperform'' and Discover ``market perform.''

`Appropriate Settlement'

The documents had been filed under protective order since the case began. The lawsuits by Discover and American Express follow a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Visa and MasterCard violated antitrust laws in competing against smaller companies.

I was a little surprised that AmEx settled as early or as cheap as they did,'' Nelms said in a Jan. 29 conference call with analysts. ``If we had an appropriate settlement at an appropriate time, we would consider that.''

Like New York-based American Express, Discover extends credit and runs a network that processes transactions for other lenders. Visa and MasterCard only operate networks and don't make loans to consumers.

Discover shares have declined 47 percent since the company was spun off a year ago by Morgan Stanley as the U.S. housing slump hurts consumers' ability to repay debt of all kinds. The company's market valuation is about $7.6 billion, according to Bloomberg data.

MasterCard shares have almost doubled in the past year and Visa shares have surged 84 percent since its IPO. The companies, which sidestep the rising customer defaults of lenders, capitalize on consumers' increasing preference for using credit and debit cards over cash and checks.

Visa's IPO raised $17.9 billion on March 18, the most for a U.S. company, and the tally passed $19 billion after more shares were sold to satisfy demand. It was the world's second-largest public offering after Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.'s $22 billion debut in 2006.

The case is Discover Financial Services, Inc. v. Visa U.S.A., Inc. et al, 04-CV-7844, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Hugh Son in New York at hson1@bloomberg.net

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