Visa is reducing its workforce by about 2,600 employees, or roughly 7%, in an effort to improve operational efficiency as competition in digital payments intensifies.
CEO Ryan McInerney said in a company memo obtained by Bloomberg that the layoffs would largely affect the technology and product teams. Visa employed about 34,100 people at the close of its last fiscal year.
McInerney said the company is reshaping how it operates to better position itself for future growth, arguing that greater efficiency will enable Visa to reinvest in higher-potential businesses. He noted that AI is accelerating software development and changing how employees work, although it is said that the technology was not the sole reason for the job reductions.
Visa plans to reinvest in key strategic areas, including consumer payments, commercial and money movement solutions, and value-added services such as stablecoins, cross-border payments and business-to-business products.
The layoffs were announced ahead of the company’s quarterly earnings release, with McInerney saying Visa is entering a new phase of growth driven by strong financial performance, customer satisfaction and faster product development.
Visa expands blockchain payments
The job cuts come as Visa continues to expand its blockchain-based payment infrastructure.
The company recently launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform, an enterprise infrastructure layer designed to help regulated financial institutions integrate stablecoins into payment, settlement and liquidity workflows. The platform provides wallet management, token minting and redemption, transfers and treasury capabilities through a unified Visa-managed environment.
The platform initially supports Open USD (OUSD) and is being rolled out to select beta customers before wider availability.