By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-30 01:36:02 | Updated at 2026-08-10 19:00:38
1 week ago
Visa announced plans to axe 7 percent of its workforce as the world’s largest payments network embraces the artificial intelligence revolution.
The restructuring will wipe out nearly 2,600 jobs, with the cuts concentrated in Visa’s tech and product divisions.
The brutal downsizing was announced just hours before the payments giant reported stellar quarterly earnings.
‘To capture the opportunities ahead and best position Visa to lead this transformation, we must continue evolving how we work,' wrote Visa CEO Ryan McInerney in a memo that detailed the layoffs.
‘AI is also helping to accelerate this evolution and shape the way work gets done at Visa.’
Visa joins a long list of American corporations that are aggressively downsizing their workforces and blaming the cuts on AI.
But unnamed insiders told CNBC that the job cuts were also part of a plan to pivot toward lucrative new ventures, like crypto stablecoins, cross-border business payments and global expansion.
‘As a result of the choices we have made over the past few years, we are entering a new era in commerce with a business that has real momentum,’ McInerney wrote in the memo.
Visa joins a long list of American corporations that are aggressively downsizing their workforces and blaming the cuts on AI (pictured Visa's headquarters campus in Foster City, California)
Visa CEO Ryan McInerney announced the layoffs in a memo to staff, noting that 'we must continue evolving how we work'
Shockingly, the layoff memo landed just before Visa reported spectacular third-quarter earnings, with the payments processor raking in a jaw-dropping $11.6 billion in net income in the prior three months – a 14 percent year-over-year gain.
The firm also reported an 11 percent year-over-year gain in adjusted share earnings of $3.32.
‘Consumer and business spending remains resilient, and our strategy continues to deliver strong performance,’ said McInerney.
Visa’s overall quarterly payments volume rose 10 percent year over year, while international transactions surged by 13 percent. Shares of Visa are up 25 percent since the end of March.
The payments giant joins a parade of other companies that have slashed tens of thousands of jobs in recent months all in the name of AI, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle and Amazon.
Meta laid off 10 percent of its workforce in May, while Microsoft started offering voluntary buyouts to 7 percent of US employees in April.
