Committed citizenship

Helping improve lives and strengthen communities

Philanthropy

We are committed to being a responsible corporate citizen around the world. We respond in times of crisis, and we work to ensure our local communities are healthy and vibrant.

Philanthropic approach

We approach our corporate giving with the highest levels of governance, ethics and compliance.

We pursue strategic focus areas to ensure the best use of our resources. These include financial inclusion and literacy, humanitarian aid and community support.

We operate with strong governance over our strategy and individual philanthropic investments and comply with all applicable laws, regulations and Visa policies.

We are transparent in our criteria, decision-making and reporting for charitable giving. All of Visa’s contributions are overseen by the Visa Charitable Contributions Committee, which consists of Visa senior executives, as well as by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Visa Inc. Board of Directors.

Humanitarian aid

We work with governments, international relief organisations and private organisations to help communities in crisis.

Emergency response in Brazil

In 2012, landslides displaced hundreds of residents in the town of Sapucaia. The local government was able to use Visa cards to quickly access funds for food, equipment and shelter.

Humanitarian aid innovation in Pakistan

In 2010, fighting displaced 1.5 million Pakistanis. During this crisis, Visa prepaid cards became their lifeline to buy food and other essentials.

UN World Food Programme

Visa partnered with the United Nations World Food Programme to deploy a mobile cash transfer programme for thousands of Rwandan refugees.

Oxfam – Philippines

Oxfam and Visa joined forces to provide electronic aid disbursements to disaster-prone communities in the Philippines.

Community support

Visa supports our communities by contributing to local non-profits and enabling our employees to give back through service and philanthropy.

Employee volunteering + Matching Gift programme

Many Visa employees are passionate about volunteering their time and expertise to causes they believe in. To encourage the spirit of volunteerism, our Visa Volunteers programme helps employees find local opportunities, create team events and track their volunteer hours. We also honour our leading employee volunteers with the Visa Volunteer Award, which recognises their outstanding contributions to their communities.

To further encourage our employees to give back, our global Matching Gift programme allows employees to donate to an eligible charitable organisation with Visa matching the donation up to $5,000 each year.

Visa’s global volunteer month

We believe our employees are agents of change. That is why, every November, Visa employees around the world come together to donate their time and talent to support non-profit organisations, schools and other community groups in the neighbourhoods where they live and work. This is the capstone of the Visa Volunteers programme and is celebrated at Visa offices around the world.