Visa (V) risk factors, FY2024 10-K

Visa's FY2024 10-K, filed Nov 13, 2024, lists 22 risk factors in 3 groups. There is no earlier 10-K to compare against, so the most company-specific risks are listed below.

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Risk factors listed
223 groups
Section length
12k wordsItem 1A

Visa's biggest risks in the FY2024 10-K

  • Visa's risk profile is heavily weighted toward global regulatory scrutiny of interchange fees and cross-border operations.
  • The company faces intense competition, heavy reliance on financial institution clients, and cybersecurity threats to its processing networks.
  • Complex multi-class stock structures and potential tax or litigation disputes also present notable risks.

The risks most specific to Visa

  • Regulatory Risks

    Increased scrutiny and regulation of the global payments industry, including with respect to interchange reimbursement fees, merchant discount rates, operating rules, risk management protocols and other related practices, could harm our business

    Increased regulatory scrutiny of interchange reimbursement fees and merchant discount rates globally could harm our business.

  • Regulatory Risks

    requirement to separate scheme and processing adds costs and impacts the execution of our commercial, innovation and product strategies

    Requirements to separate scheme and processing add costs and impact our commercial and product strategies in countries like Brazil, India, the UK, and the EU.

  • Regulatory Risks

    Government-imposed obligations and/or restrictions on international payments systems may prevent us from competing against providers in certain countries, including significant markets such as China and India

    Government-imposed obligations and preferential domestic regulations in significant markets like China and India may prevent us from competing against local providers.

  • Regulatory Risks

    We may be subject to tax examinations or disputes, or changes in tax laws

    We are currently under examination by, or in disputes with, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and tax authorities in other jurisdictions.

  • Business Risks

    Our net revenue and profits are dependent on our client and merchant base, which may be costly to win, retain and develop

    Our financial institution clients and merchants can reassess their commitments or issue non-Visa products at any time.

  • Business Risks

    Merchants’ and processors’ continued push to lower acceptance costs and challenge industry practices could harm our business

    Merchants and merchant-affiliated groups in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and Europe are pushing to lower acceptance costs paid to us.

  • Business Risks

    Our indemnification obligation to fund settlement losses of our clients exposes us to significant risk of loss and may reduce our liquidity

    Our indemnification obligation to fund settlement losses of our issuers and acquirers exposes us to significant risk of loss and may reduce liquidity.

  • Technology and Cybersecurity Risks

    A disruption, failure or breach of our networks or systems, including as a result of cyber incidents or attacks, could harm our business

    Our cybersecurity and processing systems, as well as those of third parties, have experienced and may continue to experience errors, interruptions, or cyber attacks.

  • Technology and Cybersecurity Risks

    The conversions of our class B and class C common stock or series A, B and C preferred stock into shares of class A common stock would result in voting dilution to, and could adversely impact the market price of, our existing class A common stock

    Conversions of our class B and class C common stock or series A, B, and C preferred stock into class A shares would result in voting dilution.

All 22 risk factors

Headings as the filing states them, in filing order.

Regulatory Risks

  1. 01We are subject to complex and evolving global regulations that could harm our business and financial results
  2. 02Increased scrutiny and regulation of the global payments industry, including with respect to interchange reimbursement fees, merchant discount rates, operating rules, risk management protocols and other related practices, could harm our business
  3. 03requirement to separate scheme and processing adds costs and impacts the execution of our commercial, innovation and product strategies
  4. 04Government-imposed obligations and/or restrictions on international payments systems may prevent us from competing against providers in certain countries, including significant markets such as China and India
  5. 05Laws and regulations regarding the handling of personal data, including laws and regulations related to privacy, cybersecurity and AI, may impede our services or result in increased costs, legal claims, or fines against us
  6. 06We may be subject to tax examinations or disputes, or changes in tax laws
  7. 07We may be adversely affected by the outcome of litigation or investigations

Business Risks

  1. 08We face intense competition in our industry
  2. 09Our net revenue and profits are dependent on our client and merchant base, which may be costly to win, retain and develop
  3. 10Merchants’ and processors’ continued push to lower acceptance costs and challenge industry practices could harm our business
  4. 11We depend on relationships with financial institutions, acquirers, processors, merchants, payment facilitators, ecommerce platforms, fintechs and other third parties
  5. 12Our business could be harmed if we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, if events occur that have the potential to damage our brand or reputation, or if we experience brand disintermediation
  6. 13Global economic, political, market, health and social events or conditions may harm our business
  7. 14Our aspirations to address corporate responsibility and sustainability (CRS) matters and considerations could adversely affect our business and financial results or negatively impact our reputation
  8. 15Our indemnification obligation to fund settlement losses of our clients exposes us to significant risk of loss and may reduce our liquidity

Technology and Cybersecurity Risks

  1. 16Failure to anticipate, adapt to, or keep pace with, new technologies in the payments industry could harm our business and impact future growth
  2. 17A disruption, failure or breach of our networks or systems, including as a result of cyber incidents or attacks, could harm our business
  3. 18We may not achieve the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or strategic investments, and may face risks and uncertainties as a result
  4. 19We may be unable to attract, hire and retain a highly qualified and diverse workforce, including key management
  5. 20The conversions of our class B and class C common stock or series A, B and C preferred stock into shares of class A common stock would result in voting dilution to, and could adversely impact the market price of, our existing class A common stock
  6. 21Holders of our class B-1, B-2 and C common stock and series A, B and C preferred stock may have different interests than our class A common stockholders concerning certain significant transactions
  7. 22Delaware law, provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, and our capital structure could make a merger, takeover attempt or change in control difficult

Other Visa 10-Ks

  • FY2025 10-K risk factors
    23 risks3 new2 dropped11 reworded

    Visa faces heightened scrutiny over interchange fees, national real-time payment platforms, and cross-border data flows.

    Filed Nov 06, 2025

About this page

The headings are the filing's own. The one-line readings and the overview are automated and can be wrong: read Item 1A of the 10-K for the exact wording.