Contact Visa

Visa cards are issued by Visa's financial institutions. Each one has its own criteria for issuance. Please contact your local Visa issuing financial institution or learn more about credit cards.

For questions regarding your account balance, change of address, loyalty programs, statements, online purchases, credit limits, bill payments, interest charges or the status of a card application, please contact the financial institution that issued your Visa card, or the one to which you have already submitted your Visa card application.

You can contact them directly, using the address or telephone number on your Visa statement or on the back of your card. Visa's financial institutions issue cards and are responsible for all account management and billing inquiries. Account information is confidential and proprietary between the issuing financial institution and the Visa cardholder.

Immediately report the theft or loss of your Visa card to the financial institution that issued the card. When you receive a new card, you must contact each merchant or service provider that is charging Automatic Bill Payments to your Visa card to give them the new card number and expiry date. Find out more about reporting a lost or stolen card.

Visa's financial institutions issue cards and are responsible for all billing and account management inquiries. Visa has no access to or jurisdiction over accounts. We suggest you address your questions to the financial institution that issued your Visa card. You can contact them directly, using the address or telephone number on your Visa statement or on the back of your card.

We value your privacy, and because you already have direct relationships with your merchants and service providers, you must contact them directly to get Automatic Bill Payment with Visa cards started.

Typically merchants require your Visa card number, the expiration date, the dollar amount you authorize them to charge to your Visa card and your signature. The merchant or service provider will determine the date on which you will be charged, and will know the payment frequency (weekly, monthly or quarterly).

You may choose any of your Visa cards to pay your bills. You may select one Visa card to pay some bills, and another Visa card to pay a different set of bills. You have total control and flexibility on how to use your Visa cards to manage your bill payments.

If you currently earn rewards with your Visa card, Automatic Bill Payment with your Visa card will also help you build up your loyalty rewards.

Your automatic payments will still be made - preventing any late fee charges from the merchants or service providers. The interest rate on your unpaid Visa card balance as set out in your Visa card statement will apply in accordance with your Visa cardholder agreement.

Your Visa card statement will itemize every bill paid through Automatic Bill Payment. In addition, each merchant or service provider may send you a statement indicating that the payment has been made.

There is no limit provided the charges don't cause you to exceed your credit limit.

Yes, you can stop an Automatic Bill Payment at any time. Simply contact the merchant or service provider, and you'll be advised as to the procedure for cancelling or changing the method of payment. Some merchants require advance notice to discontinue Automatic Bill Payments, so allow advance time for this.

If you find a billing error, contact the merchant or service provider directly to resolve the problem.

Available credit is the amount of credit currently available to a cardholder on his or her card. Generally, the available credit amount is the difference between a cardholder's current balance and their credit limit. When a cardholder makes a purchase, his or her financial institution reduces the available credit to reflect the amount of the authorization message sent by the merchant.

For example, if your credit limit is $500 and you purchase something for $100, the merchant will request authorization for $100 and, if approved, your financial institution will reduce your available credit by $100. This reduction can also be referred to as an "authorization hold". Your total balance owing will be zero until the transaction is completed, but your available credit will now be $400. At the authorization step, no funds change hands.

When your financial institution receives the settlement message from the merchant's financial institution (often the next business day) it will reconcile it with the authorization amount request. If a match is made, the authorization hold that was put on your available credit drops off and the transaction amount is posted to your account. Your available credit of $400 is confirmed.

In certain circumstances, the authorization amount can be different from the settlement amount. This can happen when the final amount of the purchase is not known when the authorization message is sent. The most common examples of this would be restaurants, hotels, car rental agencies and automated fuel dispensers or "pay at the pump".

When the authorization and settlement messages do not match, your bank will proceed to post the settlement amount sent by the merchant to your account without immediately releasing the authorization hold. This means the reduction in available credit remains for a period of time (usually up to five days) before automatically expiring.

When you pay at an automated fuel pump, the merchant may request a pre-set authorization amount. Your bank will put an authorization hold on the requested funds and immediately reduce your available credit equal to this pre-set authorization amount.

For example: your credit limit is $500 and you intend to make a pay at the pump gas purchase. After you have inserted your credit card into the automated fuel dispenser, the merchant may send an authorization request for $100 before you begin filling your tank. Your account is not charged as your total balance owing is zero until the settlement message is sent by the merchant, but your available credit will immediately be reduced by $100 to $400.

If the actual amount of the gas purchased is $50, the merchant will send a settlement message to your financial institution for the final purchase amount and your financial institution will try to match the settlement amount against the authorization amount. If a match cannot be made because the authorization amount and the settlement amount are different, your bank will post the actual purchase amount to your account and the authorization hold of $100 will still remain on your account for up to five days before it is released. Your balance owing is only $50, but for up to five days after your gas purchase, your available credit is $350 because it includes both the actual purchase amount of $50 plus the temporary authorization hold of $100 that was requested by the merchant.

Consider paying at the cash register, where the authorization and settlement amounts will match, or, ask about the merchant's policies regarding authorization for pay at the pump purchases. If you don't mind having the temporary authorization hold placed on your funds you can continue to enjoy the convenience of automated fuel dispensers.

You can also contact your Visa-issuing financial institution and ask that the hold on your available credit be released once the actual purchase amount is posted to your account.

To obtain a Visa card for your business, please contact a Visa-issuing financial institution.