Visa has confirmed it will eliminate approximately 2,600 positions globally, representing about 7% of its total workforce, as CEO Ryan McInerney moves to streamline the payments giant and redirect capital toward areas the company considers higher potential.
The cuts fall primarily on technology and product teams. In a staff memo reviewed by Bloomberg, McInerney said Visa must keep adapting how it operates to capture future growth opportunities, and that artificial intelligence is helping accelerate that transformation. However, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that AI was not the sole driver of the decision.
The restructuring arrives despite the company's strong financial position. Visa beat analyst revenue expectations last quarter, with revenue climbing more than 17% to $11.23 billion. The company had grown its headcount by 8% in fiscal 2025, reaching around 34,100 employees, making this one of the more significant workforce reductions in its recent history.
Freed-up capital is expected to be reinvested in growth areas including affluent consumer payments, cross-border services, business-to-business products, and stablecoin infrastructure, according to Bloomberg.
Former employees have noted on public forums that the cuts reached directors and managers, not only individual contributors, raising questions about what criteria determined who was let go when the business itself was performing well.
The announcement follows a similar move by rival Mastercard, which cut 4% of its global workforce earlier this year, and by fintech firm Block, which said in February it would reduce headcount by nearly 4,000 employees. The broader pattern across the payments and technology sector in 2026 has seen companies reduce staff even while reporting healthy earnings, with AI-driven efficiency cited as a contributing factor across the industry.
Visa has not disclosed a geographic breakdown of the cuts, severance terms, or a timeline for completing the reductions.
