Visa (V) took the stage at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026 to present a company pressing forward across payments, software, identity, stablecoins, and agentic commerce.
Chief Executive Ryan McInerney described strong U.S. spending trends, accelerating cross-border volumes, and rapid growth in value-added services as central pillars of the company’s current momentum.
McInerney acknowledged that Visa still faces geopolitical pressure on travel, rising competition, and a more complex regulatory backdrop as it pursues these growth areas.
U.S. payment volume growth has held steady at 6% to 8% for roughly 18 months, with the latest quarter reaching 10% and growth running at 9% through the end of August.
Value-added services grew 34% in the latest quarter and now represent approximately 30% of Visa’s total net revenue, underscoring the company’s push beyond core transaction processing.
Cross-border payment growth improved to 14% through the end of August, up from 12% in the prior quarter, with e-commerce expanding faster than travel within that segment.
Artificial intelligence has driven significant internal productivity improvements, including 80% more code commits and 65% faster feature development across the company’s engineering operations.
McInerney said Visa sees clear product-market fit for stablecoins in countries where consumers and businesses seek access to U.S. dollars and in cross-border remittances and business-to-business payments.
Visa now has more than 200 stablecoin issuance programs across 50 countries, with capabilities spanning blockchains, issuance, wallets, infrastructure, and applications continuing to expand.
The company serves as a validator on several payments-focused blockchains, including Tempo, Arc, and Canton, where it holds super validator status, and helped launch OpenUSD through the Open Standard joint venture.
Visa cardholders can spend stablecoin balances directly through Visa cards with automatic currency conversion, while the Visa Stablecoin Platform is being extended to issuer partners globally.
In Europe, Visa announced a €500 million incremental investment in the region, encompassing a European data center, additional offices, a Frankfurt headquarters, and an innovation center in Poland.
McInerney described the European market as highly competitive, citing domestic card networks, digital wallets, and the emerging Wero wallet as active alternatives to Visa’s offerings in the region.
The CEO also confirmed that a recent workforce reduction was part of a multiyear effort to operate more efficiently and redirect resources toward marketing and product development priorities.
