According to recently released disclosure forms, Visa USA Inc., the US-based division of Visa Inc. spent almost $2.7 million in the first six months of 2007 lobbying the federal government, while New York–based MasterCard Inc. spent roughly $880,000 in the same period.
Visa lobbied the Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, as well as the Treasury department, to name a few agencies. For its part, besides Congress, MasterCard contacted the Treasury and Justice departments.
Visa, the leading credit card in the United States, lobbied on the issues of identity theft and data security, while MasterCard lobbied on the side of financial literacy, data security, online prescription drugs, microchip technology and interchange fees. Both companies lobbied extensively on the federal government’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which made it illegal for credit cards or other financial institutions to process transactions for online wagering.
San Francisco-based Visa USA Inc. filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering early next year, making it the last of the four major credit card companies in the United States to go public.
