Blog: Expanding our Long-Term Commitment to Europe

By Antony Cahill, Regional President, Chief Executive Officer, Visa Europe

Payments are a fundamental foundation of Europe’s economy. A trusted and efficient payments ecosystem provides buyers and sellers with the confidence that money will move securely and reliably, whatever the circumstances. Payments matter because, when they work well, they enable commerce to take place seamlessly, every second of every day.

Europeans are right to expect that payment systems serving the region are resilient, secure and meet European standards. We share that view - we have built our European business around it. Today we are further strengthening our commitment to Europe by announcing several new long-term strategic investments totalling €500m over the coming decade to significantly expand our European presence.

Resilience by design, not by chance

At the core of these investments is the establishment of a new data processing centre, based in the Eurozone, to increase the resilience, security and local processing of European payments, always backed up by Visa’s core global payments platform.

Visa’s global network is engineered to stay online and operational even under extreme conditions, delivering 99.9999% service availability. This is the result not of chance but of decades of disciplined investment and operational focus.

In Europe, resilience is anchored in our growing local technology footprint, including multiple existing European data centres and cloud deployments. The addition of a new Eurozone data centre to process Visa transactions strengthens that foundation further.

A long‑term commitment, backed by investment

We are also deepening our presence in Europe with a new location for our Eurozone branch office and Central Europe team in Frankfurt. This site will host a new regional Innovation Centre focused on advancing the future of payments in the region, supporting European clients, partners and developers as commerce evolves through digital, AI-enabled and data-driven experiences.

Additionally, next March, we will open a new Technology & Solutions Centre in Warsaw, harnessing Poland’s strong talent base to advance capabilities in areas such as AI, cybersecurity and resilient digital payments infrastructure for Europe. This Warsaw centre will be part of a global network of tech hubs focused on developing the leading payment solutions that are engineered for global scale and tuned for local needs, making Europe a leading tech provider and innovator for the world.

These announcements build on sustained investment that has seen Visa’s European team double in size since 2020, with major offices in Frankfurt, Paris, London, Madrid, Stockholm, Amsterdam and more, complemented by our European acquisitions including Tink and Featurespace.

Built in Europe, governed in Europe

Visa’s business is run in Europe, under a European Board, managed by local leadership teams and local experts, addressing local needs in every country. We operate under the supervision of the Bank of England and oversight by the European Central Bank and several national central banks across the region. We expect to be designated by the ECB as a Systemically Important Payment System (SIPS) for the Eurozone area, and intend to enable Euro settlement via T2, anchoring Visa’s flows within the Eurosystem.

This governance structure ensures accountability and alignment with European regulatory and operational expectations. It reflects that Visa Europe is part of Europe’s financial ecosystem, working every day with European banks, fintechs, merchants, governments and regulators in service of European businesses and citizens. We welcome that responsibility. Operating responsibly in Europe means combining strong regional control with the ability to benefit from global insight, experience and resilience when it matters most.

Security in a global threat environment

Protecting European businesses and consumers from fraud is one of the most important things we do - and it requires a global approach because so many of the threats impacting Europe originate beyond its borders. As our world becomes more complex and technologies more sophisticated, our ability to draw on insights from a global network helps us stay ahead of emerging risks, identify patterns early and act quickly to protect the ecosystem. In 2025 alone, we successfully blocked over €1.5 billion in suspected fraud in Europe.

Cyber threats are also global by nature. From our dedicated European Cyber Fusion Centre, we work closely with European partners and authorities to share cyber threat intelligence, leveraging our global expertise to protect European consumers, merchants and financial institutions. Today we commit to opening a state-of-the-art new European Centre in the coming years to stay ahead of both global and local cyber threats.

Driving innovation and growth in Europe

Visa is a catalyst for competition, economic growth and innovation in Europe. Our work with our clients and partners has helped to create a thriving, robust and competitive payments system within Europe. From chip and PIN and contactless payments to tokenisation, technologies introduced early in Europe by Visa are now industry standards not only here but in many markets around the world. Visa drives innovation and embraces competition through our open network approach because we strongly believe that it delivers better outcomes for all participants.

As commerce continues to evolve – including towards AI-enabled payments – our focus remains on innovation that strengthens security, trust and choice for European businesses and consumers. Our new Innovation Centre in Germany will ensure that we create and tailor innovations specifically for the unique dynamics of Europe.

An enduring commitment

Visa has been an integral part of Europe’s payments ecosystem for 60 years. Our North Star has been consistent ever since the first Visa payment took place here – to keep payments flowing safely and reliably. And this continues to be our enduring focus today, and into the future.

We will continue to engage proactively and constructively with policymakers and the European financial ecosystem to ensure a competitive environment and to deliver stability and resilience for Europe and Europeans.

Europe deserves systems it can rely on that are secure, resilient, innovative and accountable. That is what Visa has built in Europe over the past six decades. And that is what we remain fully committed to delivering in the decades ahead.