Visa (NYSE: V) operates the largest retail electronic payment network in the world, and has the largest Credit Card Network in terms of branded credit and debit cards in circulation, transactions, and total volume.^[1] Visa earns its revenues by providing the information and resources to complete transactions amongst the customer, the merchant and their respective banks, collecting a fee based on the number and dollar value of transactions that it processes. Visa does not actually extend credit to its customers; rather, its member banks such as Capital One Financial (COF), Bank of America (BAC), or Wells Fargo (WFC) extend the credit. There are more than 1.7 billion Visa branded cards in the global market.^[2] In 2010, Visa's operating revenue reached $8.1 billion, and its net income was $3 billion.^[3]

Visa recently received news that the Federal Reserve missed a deadline for issuing final rules that would put restrictions on debit interchange fees that banks and debit card companies are able charge to merchants.^[4] Industry analysts generally see this as a positive for Visa and its competitors such as Mastercard (MA), as it may signal that the Federal Reserve is weighing other scenarios that may be less extreme or detrimental than the initial proposals.

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