VISA (credit Card) - Operations - Operating Regulations

Operating Regulations

Visa has a set of rules that govern the participation of financial institutions in its payment system. Acquiring banks are responsible for ensuring that their merchants comply with the rules.

Rules address how a cardholder must be identified for security, how transactions may be denied by the bank and how banks may cooperate for fraud prevention, and how to keep that identification and fraud protection standard and non-discriminatory. Other rules govern what creates an enforceable proof of authorization by the cardholder.

The rules prohibit merchants from imposing a minimum or maximum purchase amount in order to accept a Visa card and from charging cardholders a fee for using a Visa card. In ten U.S. states, surcharges for the use of a credit card are forbidden by law (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas) but a discount for cash is permitted under specific rules. Some countries have banned the no-surcharge rule, most notably the UK and Australia and retailers in those countries may apply surcharges to any credit-card transaction, Visa or otherwise.

Unlike MasterCard, Visa does permit merchants to ask for photo ID, although the merchant rule book states that this practice is "discouraged". As long as the Visa card is signed, a merchant may not deny a transaction because a cardholder refuses to show a photo ID.

The Dodd-Frank Act allows U.S. merchants to set a minimum purchase amount on credit card transactions, not to exceed $10.

Recent complications include the addition of exceptions for non-signed purchases by telephone or on the Internet, and an additional security system called "Verified by Visa" for purchases on the Internet.