Payment system structure

For operational and efficient management, Visa is divided into 6 regional divisions: Asia Pacific, Canada, Central and Eastern Europe, middle East and Africa (CEMEA), Europe (Visa Europe), Latin America and the Caribbean (Latin America and Caribbean), and the United States of America.

Visa CEMEA is one of the most dynamically developing regions of Visa, which includes 84 countries of the world. The headquarters are located in London, and territorial offices are located in Russia, Ukraine, the Republic of South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. The cultural and geographical diversity of the region is evidenced by the different levels of development of its markets. In some countries there are well-established system of payment cards, while in others still there is no effective payment and telecommunication infrastructure.
In connection with the entry of a number of countries previously belonging to the CEMEA region into the European Union the structure of the CEMEA region has changed. Currently, the CEMEA region is divided into 11 sub-regions: South Africa, the Republic of South Africa, Afrika (Algeria, Tunisia and other Afrika countries), Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and the CIS countries.

Performance indicators

The Visa trademark appeared 27 years ago, with no more than 40 million cards at that time with a turnover of $12 billion. At the end of the second quarter of 2004, Visa member banks issued over 1.3 billion rubles. Visa cards that are accepted worldwide in more than 150 countries.
Central and Eastern Europe, the middle East and Africa were allocated to the CEMEA region in 1995. For almost ten years of the region’s existence, the number of cards has increased from just over 2 million in 1995 to more than 69.1 million at the end of June 2004.*(60) card Turnover exceeded $164 billion.

Russia is one of the leading countries in Visa business development. In 1994, there were only about 30 thousand Visa cards in the country. at the end of June 2004, there were already 11.8 million Visa cards in circulation. Turnover on Visa card transactions reached about $19 billion. (which is almost 100% higher than the corresponding period in 2003. The number of retail outlets accepting Visa cards exceeded 65 thousand; the number of ATMs reached almost 14 thousand.

Products for individuals

Visa offers banks three main types of cards for individuals: credit, debit, and prepaid.
The development of the credit card market in Russia is one of Visa’s business priorities. Currently, about 30 Russian banks issue Visa credit cards, 15 of them issue real revolving cards. Russian banks have issued about 500,000 credit cards, of which more than 300,000 are revolving credit cards and the rest are overdraft cards. Most credit cards were issued by DeltaBank (over 140 thousand), which issues Visa Instant Issue (a card that allows you to get an instant loan, it is issued at points of sale and service to pay for goods and services). Helping banks switch to credit cards is Visa’s main goal for 2005.

Visa debit cards are the most popular, reliable and most widely used cards in Russia. Visa debit cards help their holders make purchases, pay for services, and conduct business transactions online as easily, quickly, and securely as they do when using cash.
At the end of the first half of 2004, the number of Visa debit cards issued by Russian banks was more than 11.7 million, and their turnover exceeded $18.8 billion.

Prepaid cards do not imply a constantly replenished Bank account and are intended mainly for small and daily purchases. Prepaid cards can be virtual, with a magnetic stripe, or with a built-in chip. The main advantage of prepaid cards is the ability to get a card directly when contacting a Bank branch, since these cards do not bear the name of its holder.

Visa Electron

Visa Electron is the most popular card in Russia and in the CEMEA region as a whole. At the end of the first half of 2004, there were more than 57 million Visa Electron cards in CEMEA.
Visa Electron can be used in more than 924 thousand ATMs with the Visa logo installed around the world.

Visa Electron card promotion programs often target specific market segments, such as students and youth, customers with limited income, and consumers purchasing a payment card for the first time.
Visa Electron cards are not attractive to fraudsters – the statistics of fraud cases for them are almost zero compared to any other cards with a magnetic stripe.

Visa Classic

The Visa Classic card is a universal payment tool that is accepted worldwide at any points marked with the Visa logo, including ATMs, real and virtual stores, as well as stores that offer goods and services by mail and phone. This card is designed for consumers with an average income who already have the experience of handling Bank cards.

At the end of the first half of 2004, more than 9.1 million rubles were in circulation in the CEMEA region.
Visa Classic cards (compared to the previous year, the growth was more than 20%).

Visa Gold and Visa Platinum

The Visa Gold card is a variant of the Visa Classic card, but only with advanced features. You can use it to withdraw cash and make purchases at any merchant or service company with the Visa logo. It is usually offered to regular customers of a Bank with a well-established banking history. The Visa Gold card holder can receive discounts and favorable offers under the international program “Visa Special Offers” (Visa Special Offers). The predominant color of the card is gold (hence the name).

The Visa Platinum card is a further development of the Visa Gold card. This card is characterized by a set of features and services designed to reflect the high status of its holder.

Visa Infinite

The Visa Infinite card occupies the highest position in the hierarchical structure of the payment system cards. It meets international standards, but, on the other hand, can be adapted to the needs of each specific market. The Visa Infinite card provides its owner with a set of exclusive services, including round-the-clock support of a personal Manager to ensure business and personal needs, insurance coverage of up to $1 million when traveling, a unique discount program-elite discounts and special offers around the world. The spending limit on the Visa Infinite card is from $20 thousand or the card can be unlimited at the discretion of the Bank.

The Visa Infinite card is issued in five of Visa’s six regions: the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the CEMEA region. As of the end of the first half of 2004, more than 78 thousand Visa Infinite cards were issued worldwide, with a turnover of more than $711 million.
The first Bank that started issuing elite Visa Infinite cards in Russia in November 2004 was Master Bank. By the end of 2005, various Russian banks may issue up to 1 thousand such cards.

Visa Virtual

in order to increase consumer confidence in e-Commerce, as well as to allow people to share their expenses in real and virtual stores, Visa introduced the Visa Virtual virtual card, designed exclusively for use on the Internet. For the first time in the CEMEA region, a virtual card was launched in Kuwait in 1999.
The Visa Virtual card has its own number and limited validity period. It cannot be used in the “real world” due to the absence of the main characteristics of the Visa card, such as the magnetic stripe, the trademark of the payment system, and the place for signing.
Currently, the number of banks issuing Visa Virtual cards in the CEMEA region has exceeded 35. A number of Russian banks also issue Visa Virtual cards.

Products for legal entities

Visa has developed a number of commercial products designed to improve the efficiency of financial management of an enterprise. Visa commercial products meet the needs of enterprises of any profile of large, medium and small businesses. This category includes Visa Business Gold, Visa Business, Visa Business Electron, Visa Corporate, Visa Purchasing, and Visa Distribution. These cards are attached to a single company account , but allow you to set an individual limit for each card. This makes it easy and convenient to control employees ‘ expenses on official business, as well as significantly simplify accounting reporting and the procedure for allocating funds to employees.

According to Visa International, the total volume of transactions for Visa commercial products in the world for the year increased by 26% and is equal to $200 billion at the end of June 2004. Total number of commercial

Visa cards totaled more than 32 million worldwide, including more than 20.5 million Visa Business cards, 4.5 million

Visa Purchasing cards, 7.5 million Visa Corporate cards and over 7.5 thousand Visa Distribution cards.
At the end of the first half of 2004, more than 960.1 thousand commercial cards were in circulation in the CEMEA region. However, the market is growing rapidly as businesses become aware of the flexibility and efficiency of electronic payments compared to cash, cheques and other traditional payment methods, as well as the benefits of accounting for expenses using a special payment instrument. As of the end of the second quarter of 2004, Visa’s commercial product expenditures in the CEMEA region reached a turnover of $10.8 billion.

Visa Business

Visa Business cards are designed for various daily payments in small and medium-sized businesses with up to 50 employees. They are usually used for accounting for travel expenses, representation expenses, bills for office equipment, office supplies, software, and utility bills. This system allows small business owners to separate personal and business expenses, as well as control cash flow, since payment for transactions is made only at the end of a certain period. Banks are expected to provide more detailed transaction information when invoicing Visa Business cards, which helps businesses effectively group expenses and simplifies the process of preparing tax and other reports.

Visa Business Electron

The Visa Business Electron card combines the versatility and convenience of a Visa Business card

high level of protection of the Visa Electron card. All transactions are authorized by the Bank, which is suitable for newly created businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs that have the status of high Bank risk, as well as for markets whose participants do not have a banking history. Visa Business Electron is also suitable for administrative staff of large companies (for example, delivery service drivers).
As for Visa Business Gold, it has similar functions, but is intended for middle and senior managers who are entitled to a higher spending limit.

Visa Corporate

The Visa Corporate card is intended for transportation and representation expenses of employees of medium and large companies who often go on business trips. The card can be used, for example, to pay for air tickets, hotel and restaurant bills, as well as for car rentals. With the Visa Corporate card, company management can control the expenses of their employees. Visa Corporate also offers various travel-related services and emergency support. In comparison with the Visa Business/Visa Business Electron card, banks have more significant requirements for the detail and details of reports provided to Visa Corporate cardholders and the company’s accounting Department.

Visa Purchasing

This card has been offered by banks since 1994 and is designed to account for office expenses. The card can be used by both medium-sized and large companies and is issued, as a rule, to people who are responsible for economic activities in these companies. Its use allows companies (both private and public sector) to avoid the time-consuming process of making small purchases of goods and services. The card is directly intended for purchasing goods and paying for services up to $5,000. For these cards, banks are required to use a special reporting form when issuing invoices. Thanks to this form, the company can significantly save on administrative costs associated with the purchase of goods, as well as get information, the analysis of which can be used as a basis for negotiations with suppliers of goods and services regarding more favorable terms for the delivery of goods and services.

The Visa Purchasing card has a silver-blue color or a silver-blue color with a contrasting dark blue color. The company name is printed in black letters or applied by stamping. All cards have all the necessary security features typical of Visa products.

Visa Distribution

The Visa Distribution card is intended for large enterprises whose activities are related to the delivery of their products to small, medium and large retail outlets. The main users of the Visa Distribution card are sales managers, as well as drivers or distributors who deliver the product.

The main advantages of the Visa Distribution card are a significant reduction in the risk associated with the transportation of large amounts of cash, as well as increasing the efficiency of financial activities of both the manufacturer and the distribution and retail network.
The Visa Distribution card is intended mainly for companies that produce products in the following areas: alcohol, General consumer products, pharmaceutical and medical products, spare parts, and building materials.