Visa to Launch Payments Processing Venture Targeting International High-Growth Geographies

Joint Venture with Yalamanchili to Provide Payments Processing for Clients in Asia Pacific, Latin America and CEMEA regions; Visa to Benefit from Rapid Entry into New Geographies

SAN FRANCISCO and SINGAPORE, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) and Yalamanchili Software Exports (P) Limited, a leading payments processor and software products and solutions company with operations in India and Singapore, today announced that they have formed a joint venture that will allow Visa to extend its industry-leading processing capabilities in some of the fastest-growing payments regions in the world.

Visa will have a controlling interest in the joint venture, named Visa Processing Service Pte. Ltd. (VPS). It begins operations this week and will serve existing processing clients. This will provide the venture with an immediate revenue stream and Visa with a quick, efficient and economical way to extend its processing leadership.

VPS will serve clients in select markets and address opportunities outside the U.S. and Europe. It complements Visa's Debit Processing Service.

Initially, the joint venture will focus on providing financial institutions, processors and other payment companies with prepaid and debit processing solutions. Like Visa, VPS will also have capabilities to provide credit, ATM, money transfer and private label processing, as well as a range of payments services, including risk and fraud management, mobile applications, loyalty and cardholder support.

"Payments processing is critically important to Visa's long-term success as we seek to deliver increased value to our clients, accelerate our growth and diversify our sources of revenue," said Joseph W. Saunders, chairman and CEO of Visa Inc. "Visa Processing Service will allow us to immediately and cost-effectively enter new geographies with a scalable and high-quality processing offering. Based on our success in the United States, we know that issuer processing is a critical component of an integrated debit strategy. Processing capabilities enhance Visa's ability to see and analyze each transaction, providing greater opportunities to add value for financial institutions, cardholders and merchants."

As part of the joint venture agreement, Visa will incorporate Yalamanchili's technology with Visa's payments expertise and existing processing infrastructure. Yalamanchili will provide its suite of NARADA(TM) Software Products - a multi-currency, multi-language platform for debit, prepaid and credit payment transactions; gateway services for international and domestic networks; and acquiring applications, including ATM terminal driving.

"We have enjoyed a strong working relationship with Visa for quite some time and look forward to partnering with them on the formation of Visa Processing Service," said Y. Ramakrishna, founder and managing director of Yalamanchili. "Together, we will complement each other's strengths and be able to provide financial institutions with a first-class international processing offering that includes unparalleled customer service and expanded product offerings."

VPS will be headquartered in Singapore and governed by a board of directors. The board will include Visa executives John Partridge, chief operating officer; Rupert Keeley, global head of strategy and corporate development; and David Lee, regional president of Asia Pacific; as well as Yalamanchili executives Ramakrishna and P. Srinivasan, chief technology officer. Russ Piparo, a 15-year Visa veteran, will manage the day-to-day operations of the new venture.

About Visa Inc.: Visa Inc. operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world, and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com or www.visaprocessingservice.com.

About Yalamanchili Software Exports Limited: Yalamanchili is an IT solutions provider offering a range of software products and providing total business solutions, in the areas of middleware technologies, transaction processing, customer delivery channels, e-commerce, EAI applications, card solutions and banking systems. For more information, visit www.yalamanchili.co.in.

Contact: Paul Cohen Visa Inc. Tel: +1 415 932 2564 E-mail: globalmedia@visa.com