Interchange

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• Interchange
  • Understanding Visa Transactions
  • Economics of the Visa System
  • Facts About Interchange
  • Interchange FAQ

What does it take to:

• Buy specialty spices from India to expand the inventory at your independent convenience store?
• Accept floral orders from customers across the continent and know you will get paid?
• Automatically pay your rent, water and garbage bill on time while dancing the night away aboard your first Mediterranean cruise?

It takes Visa: The Currency of Life and the company that connects thousands of financial institutions, millions of businesses and millions of cardholders to make these experiences possible. And it takes interchange: the transfer rate exchanged between the merchant's financial institution and the cardholder's financial institution every time a Visa payment product is used.

Interchange provides the incentives necessary to assure that financial institutions invest in the Visa system and the benefits that we all enjoy with payment products – from protection against fraud to car rental insurance coverage to airline miles to 24/7 customer service. Visa also uses interchange as a tool to aid financial institutions in signing up more and more merchants to accept Visa so that you can fuel up at the gas station, buy stamps at the post office and pick up a 50th anniversary gift for your parents in the same afternoon – all without carrying a checkbook or fumbling for cash.

Understanding Visa Transactions

While swiping your card is easy and fast, there is a lot more happening behind the scenes.

Economics of the Visa System

There is a cost to participating in the Visa system.

Facts about Interchange

Interchange plays a critical role in nearly every Visa transaction and the system at large.

Interchange FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions.