Frequently Asked Questions

Visa is an association of 21,000 member financial institutions (banks) around the world. These members issue and maintain all information about individual accounts. If you have a question about your account, please contact the financial institution that issued your Visa card. You can find their address and telephone number on your monthly statement.

Please view our worldwide network of toll-free Visa Global Customer Assistance Service telephone numbers.

To explore some of Visa.com's most frequently asked questions, visit one of the categories below to browse the topic.

Visa cards & products
Help with your Visa card
Email fraud
For merchants
General

Visa cards & products

How do I get a Visa card?
Visa's member financial institutions (banks) issue Visa cards and they have their own criteria for card issuance. Please contact your local bank to apply for a Visa card or visit the Get a card page on visacemea.com to find a financial institution in your geographic region.

Are products or services purchased with my Visa card insured or include an extended warranty?
While all Visa cards include a basic level of benefits, most of our member financial institutions (banks) choose to provide enhanced benefits. Banks tailor benefits packages to meet the needs of their cardholders. For more information, please contact the financial institution as insurance coverage or warranty options may vary depending on your card-issuing bank.

How can I find an ATM that accepts Visa?
Please use our Visa ATM locator tool to find ATMs around the world.

Where can I find information on Visa products?
Through its member financial institutions, Visa offers payment solutions with worldwide acceptance, including credit, debit, prepaid and business products. There are more than one billion Visa-branded products in circulation around the world, with unsurpassed acceptance in more than 150 countries.

Our Member financial institutions (the banks) issue cards and manage all aspects of account management. Each bank has its own criteria for issuing cards, interest rates, terms and conditions.

Help with Your Visa Card

How can I get help with my Visa Account?

*Account balance
*Change of address
*Points/rewards/airline miles
*Bill payment

*Visa account statements
*Online purchases
*Status of submitted applications
*Credit limits

For questions regarding any of these topics, please contact the financial institution (bank) that issued your Visa card. You can contact them directly regarding any of these Visa account topics by using the address or telephone number on your Visa statement or on the back of your card. Visa International does not have access to, or jurisdiction over accounts. Our Member financial institutions (banks) issue cards and are responsible for all account management, statement, and billing issues. Visa accounts are confidential and proprietary information between the issuing financial institution and the cardholder.

What do I do if my Visa Card, Travellers Cheque or Travel Money is lost or stolen?
Please contact the financial institution (bank) that issued your Visa product to report it lost or stolen. That information will be on your credit card statement.

Lost card : You can also contact the Visa Global Customer Assistance Center , available 24 hours, 7 days a week to report a lost or stolen card.

Lost Travellers Cheques : You can call the Visa Travellers Cheque Global Refund and Assistance Center to report a lost travellers cheque.

Lost Visa Travel Money : The Visa Travel Money Customer Services Center is available to take your calls toll-free from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

How can I dispute a charge on my Visa card?
Our Member financial institutions (the banks) issue cards and are responsible for all billing and account management issues. Visa has no access to, or jurisdiction over accounts. Accounts are confidential and proprietary information between the issuing financial institution (the bank) and the cardholder.

We suggest you address your questions about your Visa account balance, statements, or changes to the financial institution that issued your Visa card. You can contact them directly, using the address or telephone number on your Visa statement or on the back of the card.

E-mail & other fraud

How can I report fraudulent Visa Web site or e-mail?

Visa will never send you an e-mail asking for confidential information such as account numbers, passwords, PIN numbers, credit card numbers or social security numbers.

Protect yourself from fraudulent e-mails claiming to be from a credit card company, bank or other popular Internet web site. Delete unsolicited e-mails that ask for this type of personal information. If you suspect you've provided confidential information to a fraudulent site, contact the customer service number on the back of your card or from your account statement.

You can report e-mail fraud claiming to be from Visa by attaching the suspicious message to an e-mail addressed to: phishing@visa.com

How can I protect myself against fraudulent e-mail?
E-mails claiming to come from a credit card company, a bank, or other popular Web sites have become a frequent occurrence. These e-mails are also known as "spoof," "spam," "imposter" or "phishing" e-mails. These e-mails are sent in the hopes that e-mail recipients will reply or click on a link contained in the e-mail and then provide confidential information (passwords, account numbers, etc.).

Usually, it is hard to immediately recognise an e-mail as fraudulent, since the senders use seemingly legitimate e-mail address (i.e. customersupport@visa.com), as well as company logos and graphics. However, there are ways to recognise fraud:

Spoof e-mails may ask you to provide personal information (such as PIN or credit card number) in a return e-mail.
Spoof e-mails may include a link to a web site that will ask you for personal information

Visa staff will never ask you for your personal information, such as password or credit card number.

If you have received such a request, please report it to us immediately:

Create new e-mail, attach the original spoof e-mail, and send to phishing@visa.com

I believe a merchant has acted fraudulently. What can I do?
Please notify the dispute area at the financial institution that services your Visa account of any merchant practices that you feel are inappropriate. Your bank has access to the appropriate Visa rules and regulations as well as to the Notification of Customer Complaint forms which should be used by your bank to document and file merchant complaints. It is not necessary for your bank to be the merchant's financial institution in order to file a complaint for you. The address or telephone number of the financial institution that issued your Visa card can be found on the back of your Visa card or your Visa statement.

For Merchants

Can merchants set a minimum purchase or charge a fee for using my Visa card?
Visa has certain regulations that all merchants that accept Visa cards must follow. One of those rules is that Visa merchants are not permitted to establish minimum transaction amounts, even on sale items. However, in some countries surcharging is legal and the local legislation will take precedence over Visa's regulations.

If you run into a problem with a merchant, please notify your Visa card-issuing bank. Visa member banks have access to the appropriate Visa rules and regulations as well as to the Notification of Customer Complaint forms which should be used by the bank to document and file merchant complaints. Back to Top

How can I accept Visa at my business?
If you would like to accept Visa at your business, please contact your financial institution.

General

Will Visa become a sponsor for my event?
All sponsorship requests and proposals should be sent in writing to:

Visa International
Service Association
CEMEA Region
PO Box 39662
London W2 6WH

How can I contact Visa?
Contact the Visa Global Customer Assistance Service using our worldwide network of toll-free telephone numbers.