Our business
Visa Europe is a payments business, constantly
working at the forefront of technology to introduce new, easier,
and more secure payment options for our members and their
customers.
We make money flow by enabling cardholders, retailers, and banks
to do business with each other. We are the glue that binds the
payments system together, bringing real value to cardholders,
businesses, our members, and the economy.
As a membership association, we have a low-cost business model.
We deliver services at cost to our members and are solely focused
on their business priorities. We do not seek to make a profit –
only to ensure that we are adequately capitalised as a
business.
Everyone knows the Visa brand; Visa cards are accepted at
millions of places worldwide. We are the European
payment system, wholly owned, controlled, and operated by more than
3,700 members – that’s banks and other payment service providers -
from 36 countries across Europe.
We provide the brand, systems, services, and rules that help
make electronic payments between millions of European consumers,
retailers and businesses, and governments happen. We don’t issue
cards, or sign up retailers. We don’t decide cardholder or retailer
fees. All this is done by the banks and other payment service
providers who are members of Visa Europe.
Visa Europe is a European membership organisation incorporated
in the UK. We partner with Visa Inc. to enable global Visa
payments, but exist and operate as an entirely separate
organisation.
Visa Europe’s headquarters are in the UK. We also have offices
in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and
Turkey.