International transactionNarrow moat

Visa (V) — moat facet

The richest toll and the least controllable: cross-border volume up 14% in the June 2026 quarter, the revenue on it up 6%.

International transaction revenue is earned when a card is used across a border, and it is the line that moves most with the world. It brought in $14,166 million in fiscal 2025, against $12,665 million in 2024 and $11,638 million in 2023.1

International transaction revenue ($bn)$7.21bnFY2018$7.80bnFY2019$6.30bnFY2020$11.64bnFY2023$12.67bnFY2024$14.17bnFY2025Visa Forms 10-K FY2020 and FY2025; FY2021-22 not shown
The only line that fell in 2020, by 19%.

What is inside the line is revenue for cross-border transaction processing and currency conversion.2 Its drivers are cross-border volume and the volatility of currencies, which is why it can grow faster or slower than the travel behind it.

The history shows the exposure. The line was $7,804 million in fiscal 2019 and fell 19% to $6,299 million in fiscal 2020, on a 23% decline in nominal cross-border volume, excluding transactions within Europe, as COVID-19 spread.3 No other line fell that year. From 2018 to 2025 it still compounded at 10.1% a year, level with service revenue.4

The filings name both drivers each year. In fiscal 2025 it grew 12% on 13% more cross-border volume and higher volatility across currencies, partly offset by business mix.5 In the June 2026 quarter it grew 6% to $3,853 million, on 14% more cross-border volume, partly offset by lower currency volatility and business mix.6

That gap between volume and revenue is the line's particular weakness. The volume came through and the currency spreads did not; over the nine months the line grew 7%, the slowest of the four.78

It is also the line that stablecoin rails and cheaper cross-border services target, which the page Stablecoins: Building the Thing That Could Replace You covers.

This is a narrow moat: a fee on a flow Visa carries widely, priced partly on volatility it does not control. The figure to follow is the gap between cross-border volume growth and this line's growth, 14% against 6% in the June 2026 quarter. A persistent gap would mean the conversion margin is shrinking rather than resting.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

Cross-border volume grew 14% in the June 2026 quarter and the revenue on it 6%, as currency volatility fell.

The number that tests this moat
Moat Explorer calc
Cross-border volume growth against international transaction revenue growth
+14% against +6% in Q3 FY2026

A persistent gap would mean the currency-conversion margin is shrinking rather than resting.

How it's calculated: 3,853 / 3,633 - 1 against the 10-Q's stated 14% cross-border volume growth.
Source: Visa Form 10-Q, Q3 FY2026 (Moat Explorer calc) ↗
References
  1. ReportedIt brought in $14,166 million in fiscal 2025, against $12,665 million in 2024 and $11,638 million in 2023.
    Visa Form 10-K FY2025 - net revenue by line 2023-2025: service $14,826M/$16,114M/$17,539M, data processing $16,007M/$17,714M/$19,993M, international transaction $11,638M/$12,665M/$14,166M, other $2,479M/$3,197M/$4,053M, client incentives ($12,297M)/($13,764M)/($15,751M), net revenue $32,653M/$35,926M/$40,000M; line definitions; FY2025 drivers: service +9% on 7% payments volume growth, pricing and card benefits; data processing +13% on 10% more processed transactions and pricing; international transaction +12% on 13% cross-border volume growth and currency volatility; other +27% on advisory and other services and pricing; processed transactions 212,579M/233,758M/257,545M; payments volume $13.9 trillion; 329 billion Visa-branded transactions; one reportable segment — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. 6 November 2025 · source ↗
  2. ReportedWhat is inside the line is revenue for cross-border transaction processing and currency conversion.
    Visa Form 10-K FY2025 - net revenue by line 2023-2025: service $14,826M/$16,114M/$17,539M, data processing $16,007M/$17,714M/$19,993M, international transaction $11,638M/$12,665M/$14,166M, other $2,479M/$3,197M/$4,053M, client incentives ($12,297M)/($13,764M)/($15,751M), net revenue $32,653M/$35,926M/$40,000M; line definitions; FY2025 drivers: service +9% on 7% payments volume growth, pricing and card benefits; data processing +13% on 10% more processed transactions and pricing; international transaction +12% on 13% cross-border volume growth and currency volatility; other +27% on advisory and other services and pricing; processed transactions 212,579M/233,758M/257,545M; payments volume $13.9 trillion; 329 billion Visa-branded transactions; one reportable segment — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. 6 November 2025 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThe line was $7,804 million in fiscal 2019 and fell 19% to $6,299 million in fiscal 2020, on a 23% decline in nominal cross-border volume, excluding transactions within Europe, as COVID-19 spread.
    Visa Form 10-K FY2020 - net revenues by line 2018-2020: service $8,918M/$9,700M/$9,804M, data processing $9,027M/$10,333M/$10,975M, international transaction $7,211M/$7,804M/$6,299M, other $944M/$1,313M/$1,432M; international transaction revenues fell 19% on a 23% decline in nominal cross-border volumes, excluding transactions within Europe, as COVID-19 spread — FY2018-FY2020 · publ. 19 November 2020 · source ↗
  4. Moat Explorer calcFrom 2018 to 2025 it still compounded at 10.1% a year, level with service revenue.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Visa's Forms 10-K FY2020 and FY2025 and the Q3 FY2026 10-Q: line shares of gross revenue, compound growth rates, revenue per processed transaction and per dollar of payments volume — FY2018 to Q3 FY2026 · publ. 2026-09-23 · source ↗
  5. ReportedIn fiscal 2025 it grew 12% on 13% more cross-border volume and higher volatility across currencies, partly offset by business mix.
    Visa Form 10-K FY2025 - net revenue by line 2023-2025: service $14,826M/$16,114M/$17,539M, data processing $16,007M/$17,714M/$19,993M, international transaction $11,638M/$12,665M/$14,166M, other $2,479M/$3,197M/$4,053M, client incentives ($12,297M)/($13,764M)/($15,751M), net revenue $32,653M/$35,926M/$40,000M; line definitions; FY2025 drivers: service +9% on 7% payments volume growth, pricing and card benefits; data processing +13% on 10% more processed transactions and pricing; international transaction +12% on 13% cross-border volume growth and currency volatility; other +27% on advisory and other services and pricing; processed transactions 212,579M/233,758M/257,545M; payments volume $13.9 trillion; 329 billion Visa-branded transactions; one reportable segment — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. 6 November 2025 · source ↗
  6. ReportedIn the June 2026 quarter it grew 6% to $3,853 million, on 14% more cross-border volume, partly offset by lower currency volatility and business mix.
    Visa Form 10-Q, quarter to 30 June 2026 - service $4,922M against $4,330M, data processing $6,042M against $5,153M, international transaction $3,853M against $3,633M, other $1,496M against $1,028M; nine months $14,663M, $17,129M, $11,136M and $4,030M against $12,937M, $14,599M, $10,366M and $2,877M; drivers: payments volume +11%, processed transactions +10%, cross-border volume +14% excluding Europe partly offset by lower currency volatility, growth in Advisory and Other Services, select pricing modifications; processed transactions 71,662M — Q3 FY2026 · publ. 29 July 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedThe volume came through and the currency spreads did not; over the nine months the line grew 7%, the slowest of the four.
    Visa Form 10-Q, quarter to 30 June 2026 - service $4,922M against $4,330M, data processing $6,042M against $5,153M, international transaction $3,853M against $3,633M, other $1,496M against $1,028M; nine months $14,663M, $17,129M, $11,136M and $4,030M against $12,937M, $14,599M, $10,366M and $2,877M; drivers: payments volume +11%, processed transactions +10%, cross-border volume +14% excluding Europe partly offset by lower currency volatility, growth in Advisory and Other Services, select pricing modifications; processed transactions 71,662M — Q3 FY2026 · publ. 29 July 2026 · source ↗
  8. Moat Explorer calcThe volume came through and the currency spreads did not; over the nine months the line grew 7%, the slowest of the four.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Visa's Forms 10-K FY2020 and FY2025 and the Q3 FY2026 10-Q: line shares of gross revenue, compound growth rates, revenue per processed transaction and per dollar of payments volume — FY2018 to Q3 FY2026 · publ. 2026-09-23 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026