V · 10-Q · 2026Q1 · Full report

Settlement Guarantee Management

VISA INC. · 2026-04-29 · Importance 56 · Surprise 24 · Contradicted

Visa indemnifies issuing and acquiring clients for settlement losses if another client fails to fund settlement obligations under Visa operating rules, which creates settlement exposure tied to unsettled payment transactions. For the six months ended March 31, 2026, Visa’s maximum daily settlement exposure was $168.6 billion and the average daily settlement exposure was $98.1 billion. To mitigate settlement risk, the Company holds collateral including restricted cash, restricted cash equivalents, letters of credit, guarantees, pledged securities and beneficial rights to trust assets; total collateral was $9.5 billion as of March 31, 2026 (up from $8.8 billion at September 30, 2025). Visa states that future obligations under its guarantees could be material but are not determinable and historically losses have been minimal.

Key facts

• For the six months ended March 31, 2026, the Company’s maximum daily settlement exposure was $168.6 billion and the average daily settlement exposure was $98.1 billion. source
• Total collateral to mitigate settlement exposure as of March 31, 2026: $9.5 billion and as of September 30, 2025: $8.8 billion. source
• Customer collateral as of March 31, 2026: $4,292 million. source
• Settlement receivable as of March 31, 2026: $2,136 million. source
• We indemnify our issuing and acquiring clients for settlement losses limited to the amount of unsettled Visa payment transactions at any point in time and may require clients to post collateral if certain credit standards are not met. source

Impact estimates