Visa Mobile FAQ

The Android platform is Google's mobile phone operating system. Visa Mobile is only available for mobile phones that use Google's Android operating system.

Visa Mobile is a suite of Visa services enabled on your mobile phone. Initially there are three services—the Alerts service, the Offers service, and the Locator service—that make your life easier, improve your ability to manage and protect your Visa cards, and provide you with valuable offers from merchants.

Visa services include:

• Alerts: Near-real-time notification¹ of Visa signature-based credit, debit, and prepaid card transactions and Interlink-processed transactions are sent to your mobile phone based on your customized preferences. You can personalize the types of transaction alerts sent to your mobile phone, such as the amount of the transaction or whether the transaction takes place in a country outside the one in which your card was issued.
• Offers: Receive offers from merchants directly to your mobile phone. These offers range from discounts to loyalty offers.
• Locator: Access maps and directions to nearby locations of merchants providing offers and ATMs that accept Visa. The locations are called out on a map displayed on your mobile phone's screen.

Participation is currently limited to select U.S. Bank debit cardholders. You may receive an invitation from U.S. Bank if you have a Visa Debit card that is eligible for enrollment at this time.

Yes, you must have a mobile phone running the Android operating system from a participating mobile service provider and be enrolled in the mobile service provider's appropriate data services.

If you have received an invitation from your issuer, enroll by following the instructions you received in your invitation. If not, then go to the Android Market to download the application.

Visa does not charge for participating in Visa Mobile; however, standard text messaging rates from your mobile service provider may apply to SMS messages that you receive as part of the Visa services that are included in Visa Mobile. You should review your mobile service plan and if you have any questions about whether you are charged for standard text messages or data services, please consult your mobile service provider's customer service.

To take advantage of the Visa services offered through Visa Mobile, you must meet the following prerequisites:

• Have a Visa card that is selected by your issuer to participate in Visa Mobile
• Have an email account
• Have a mobile phone supporting the Android platform
• Be enrolled in your mobile service provider's appropriate data service
• Download Visa Mobile to your mobile phone

You must provide your:

• Eligible Visa card number, expiration date, and three-digit security code (on the back of the card)
• Mobile phone number
• Email address
• First and last name
• Visa card's billing address.

You can enroll one mobile phone per email address.

You can enroll up to five Visa cards per mobile phone, as long as the issuer has selected each card for participation in Visa Mobile. Each card you enroll should be in your name or otherwise under your control.

Yes, you can enroll the same Visa card on up to five mobile phones (for example, if family members share an account number, but have individual phones). Each mobile phone number will require validation from the handset in a time-sensitive manner, and therefore only mobile phone numbers under control of the participating cardholder should be used.

Your email address is collected during enrollment as part of completing your user profile.

Visa needs your full Visa card number for enrollment to:

• Verify that your Visa card is eligible to participate in Visa Mobile.
• Ensure that purchase-based transaction alerts are sent to the appropriate mobile phone.
• Track and qualify promotions that offer a statement credit.
• Post credits to your Visa card statements.

Yes. Your personal information is collected and passed to a secure Visa server through an encrypted HTTPS IP connection.

No, at this time participation is limited to select U.S. Bank debit cardholders.

To enroll in Visa Mobile, follow these steps:

1. Download Visa Mobile to your mobile phone. When the download has successfully completed, Visa Mobile is represented by a Visa Mobile icon in your mobile phone's application folder.
   NOTE: Please note that you cannot enroll in Visa Mobile from your computer. You must download Visa Mobile directly from your mobile phone and complete the enrollment process from within Visa Mobile.
2. Open Visa Mobile to begin the enrollment process (when enrolling the first card).
3. The Welcome screen appears to inform you that enrollment is necessary.
4. Select Continue to open the Card Eligibility screen, which prompts you to enter your 16-digit Visa card number to confirm that your card is eligible to participate in Visa Mobile.
5. Enter your card number and select Check Eligibility. Your Visa card number is masked while you are entering it and is never legible during the enrollment process. For eligible cards the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy screen appears.
6. Review the terms and conditions and privacy policy
7. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and select I Agree to accept the terms and conditions and privacy policy. The Enter Personal Information screen appears
8. Enter your email address, first and last name, Visa card billing address, and your Visa cards expiration date and three-digit security code. You may also need to provide your mobile phone number if Visa Mobile cannot automatically identify what it is. Your Visa card number is masked, except for the last four digits, and displayed on this screen.
9. Select Enroll. The You're All Set screen appears
   Select Continue to open the Visa Mobile landing page. This page allows you to select Alerts, Offers, Locator, Settings, or About Visa Mobile.

At this time, participation is limited to select U.S. Bank debit cardholders.

If you lose your mobile phone and want to cancel your enrollment in Visa Mobile, you should contact Visa Support at 1-888-615-8260 between 8am – 8pm ET, Monday through Friday except holidays to opt-out of the program. When you have a new mobile phone you can re-enroll in Visa Mobile.

Contact Visa Support at 1-888-615-8260 between 8am – 8pm ET, Monday through Friday except holidays for assistance with opting out.

No, your data is not stored on your mobile phone. Your personal information is stored on a secure Visa server.

If you lose your Visa card, please contact your issuer to replace your Visa card. When you receive a new card, you must add your card to Visa Mobile and delete your old card.

After you establish your settings for Alerts and Offers, you receive offers immediately upon enrollment. Before you begin to receive alerts, Visa must verify your information.

To enroll additional Visa cards that your issuer has identified as eligible for participation in Visa Mobile, follow these steps:

1. Open Visa Mobile to display the landing page.
2. Select Settings, and then select Account to open the Account Settings screen.
3. On the Account Settings screen, select Add a Visa Card to open the Add Card screen.
4. Enter the additional card's 16-digit card number and select Check Eligibility. If the Visa card is eligible for enrollment, the Enter Personal Information screen appears.
5. Enter the required personal information and select Save.

To remove a Visa card, follow these steps:

1. Open Visa Mobile to display the landing page.
2. Select Settings, and then select Account to open the Account Settings screen. The Account Settings screen lists all the Visa cards that you have enrolled in Visa Mobile.
3. On the Account Settings screen, select Delete next to the card that you want to remove.

Each time you start Visa Mobile, the system checks to see if there is a more recent version. If there is, Visa Mobile notifies you to upgrade to the new version. After you download and install the updated version, you do not have to re-enroll or re-set your preferences.

You may cancel enrollment in (opt-out of) Visa Mobile at any time. After cancelling enrollment, use your mobile phone's process for deleting an application.

Yes, your existing offers and alerts will be available in the new version of Visa Mobile.

To opt-out of participating in Visa Mobile in its entirety at any time, you may take one of the following actions:

• Text "STOP", "END", "CANCEL", or "UNSUBSCRIBE" to the short code MVISA (68472).
• Reply using "STOP", "END", "CANCEL", or "UNSUBSCRIBE" to any SMS message you received as part of Visa Mobile.

To enroll in Visa Mobile after cancelling your enrollment, you must download Visa Mobile again and then follow the enrollment procedures. If you did not remove Visa Mobile from your phone but simply opted-out of one or more Visa services, you can opt-in again from Visa Mobile.

For all mobile phone inquiries, please contact your mobile service provider directly.

Alerts are messages that Visa sends to you to help you manage and track your Visa signature-based and Interlink-processed transactions. They provide near-real-time notification of Visa signature-based transaction activity based on your customized alert settings. You can select specific alerts and specify the settings for the alerts you want to receive (for example, the option to be notified when a transaction exceeds a specific value). Information in the alert includes the amount of the transaction, date and time¹ the transaction occurred, the merchant name and location (if available), issuer's logo, and information about how to contact the issuer. There is a direct link to the issuer's customer support telephone number, email address, or website from the alert.

The advantages of the Alerts service are:

• Enables you to monitor your card's signature-based purchase transactions in near-real-time.
• Offers you peace of mind by providing timely information that helps you monitor your Visa card for potential fraud.
• Provides a tool to help you manage your money.

The following alerts are available:

• Threshold transaction: An alert is triggered if a purchase amount is greater than a preset dollar amount.
• Card-not-present transaction: An alert is triggered if a purchase is made without having to physically present the card at the point of sale, such as when a purchase is made online or by telephone.
  NOTE: The card-not-present alert is sent for any online, mail order, or telephone order transaction (regardless of purchase amount) when the threshold transaction setting is ON. The card-not-present alert is not sent when the threshold transaction setting is OFF.
• International transaction: An alert is triggered if a purchase is made outside the country that issued the Visa card.
• Declined transaction: An alert is triggered when the issuer or Visa on behalf of an issuer declines a transaction for any reason.
• Gasoline transaction: An alert is triggered if a purchase is made at a gas station (e.g., fuel, car wash).

Visa does not charge for the Alert service; however, standard text messaging rates from your mobile service provider may apply to SMS alert messages. You should consult your plan and if you have any questions about whether you are charged for standard text messages, please contact your mobile service provider's customer service.

The Alerts service is part of Visa Mobile. You must enroll in Visa Mobile to receive alerts.

No. For your protection, only the last four digits of your Visa card number are displayed in an alert.

No, you must re-enroll with your new Visa card number and expiration date.

Your authorized user must meet the prerequisites for enrollment and enroll in Visa Mobile to receive the Alerts service.

After you have successfully enrolled and you access the alerts area of Visa Mobile for the first time, you are prompted to choose your alert settings.
You can customize settings to receive an alert for:

• Transactions that are declined by your issuing bank.
• Purchases that exceed a specified dollar amount.
• Purchases conducted online or over the phone.
• Transactions that take place outside the country that issued your Visa card.
• Purchase made at a gas station (e.g., fuel, car wash).

1. Open Visa Mobile to display the landing page.
2. From the Visa Mobile landing page, select Settings, and then Alerts to open the Alerts Settings screen.
3. If you have only one Visa card enrolled in Visa Mobile, it will be displayed on the Alerts Settings screen. If you have more than one card enrolled, choose the card for which you want to establish or change the alerts settings. Scroll down to view and select the available alerts settings options.
4. Threshold Transactions: Enter the dollar amount of the threshold alert for signature-based purchase transactions and for online and telephone transactions. If your Visa card is used for a purchase that is greater than the amount entered in either of these fields, you receive an alert.
   1. The default threshold amount is set by your issuer. You can change this to any whole dollar amount. (e.g., $1.25 is not acceptable).
   2. The minimum threshold amount is equal to $2. If you enter an amount less than $2, an error message is displayed and the default amount is displayed in the field.
   3. This is an on/off field and is automatically on. If you do not want to receive threshold transactions, turn the field off.
   NOTE: The card-not-present alert is sent for any online, mail order, or telephone order transaction (regardless of purchase amount) when the threshold transaction setting is ON. The card-not-present alert is not sent when the threshold transaction setting is OFF.
5. International Transactions: This is an on/off field. Turn the field on if you want to receive alerts when your enrolled Visa card is used to make a purchase outside the country that issued the Visa card.
6. Declined Transactions: This is an on/off field. Turn the field on if you want to receive alerts when your enrolled Visa card is declined when making a purchase.
7. Card-not-present Transactions: This is an of/off field. Turn the field on if you want to receive alerts when your enrolled Visa card is used to make an online or telephone order purchase (a purchase without swiping your card).
8. Gasoline Transactions: This is an on/off field. Turn the field on if you want to receive alerts when your enrolled Visa card is used for purchases made at a gas station (e.g., fuel, car wash).
9. Select Save to save your alerts settings.

Alerts are sent to two locations:

• The Visa Mobile alerts area on your mobile phone.
• Your mobile phone's default SMS inbox.

Yes, the receipt of a corresponding SMS alert triggers the handset setting that you have set up (i.e., tone, vibration, or other related features).

The alert is handled by your mobile phone the same as any other message that is received while you are on a call. Your call should not be disrupted.

No, you receive only one alert per transaction.

No, you receive alerts for purchase transactions only, not for returns or adjustments.

Yes, you can delete alerts from the alerts area.

No, your email address is used only to enroll in Visa Mobile. Visa does not send alerts via email.

Yes, if you both have the same Visa card number.

To opt-out of receiving alerts at any time, you may take one of the following actions:

• Text "alerts STOP" to the short code MVISA (68472).
• Reply using "ALERTS STOP" to any SMS message you received as part of Visa Mobile.

Check to see if the unfamiliar transaction is one of the following:

• An automatic bill payment you set up for a recurring service (like cable or telephone).
• A large purchase that was divided into smaller transactions.
• An aggregated charge (several small purchases combined into one, such as buying $0.99 songs online).
• A purchase initiated by an authorized cardholder who has the same Visa card number.
• An authorization charge from a restaurant or hotel.

This rarely occurs, but it can happen if a merchant:

• Is a portal, meaning the merchant sells merchandise from other merchants (e.g., Amazon.com). If you purchased multiple items, each merchant may charge separately for its portion.
• Bills taxes separately from the total sale, as airlines often do.
• Has to re-send the transaction information to Visa because the initial authorization expired.

Certain transactions, such as buying $0.99 songs online, are aggregated into one large transaction. An aggregated transaction that meets the criteria for a transaction alert triggers a single alert.

Occasionally an alert is delayed if a merchant does not immediately submit your transaction information to Visa for processing. The merchant may be waiting until your order ships to do so or may not have immediate access to a power source for transmitting data.

Alerts are not sent if the:

• Dollar amount of your transaction is lower than the amount you set for your threshold transaction.
• Merchant processes transactions through the bank's system instead of Visa's.
• Merchant has not yet submitted the transaction information to Visa.

Alerts are triggered based on the initial authorization amount that the restaurant sends to Visa, which may or may not include the estimated tip, and is not necessarily the final amount for which you signed.

Alerts are triggered based on the initial authorization amount the hotel sends to Visa, which doesn't include discretionary charges such as room service, parking, dry cleaning, and wireless service.

Some businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, and rental car companies, send an estimated transaction amount to Visa for an initial authorization. If the estimated amount meets the transaction amount threshold that you have set up, Visa sends you a transaction alert to let you know that your card has been used, without specifying the amount.

The merchant's name is provided in the transaction alert if it is available.

Your issuer may be able to help you determine the merchant's actual location. The alert includes contact information for your issuer, such as a telephone number, email address, and/or link to the issuer's website.

Alerts are stored in the alerts area of Visa Mobile. You can view, sort, and delete alerts.

The alerts area in Visa Mobile has a preconfigured limit of 100 alerts. When the number of alerts reaches the limit, the oldest alert is automatically deleted.

No, alerts do not expire. You can delete alerts from Visa Mobile and from the mobile phone's default SMS inbox. When the alerts area in Visa Mobile is full, the oldest alert is automatically deleted when you receive a new alert.

Yes, you can sort alerts by amount, bank, card and date received.

No, not at this time.

The Offers service sends merchant discounts and special offers to you via your mobile phone. Offers are stored and displayed in Visa Mobile on the mobile phone, which eliminates the need for you to present a paper coupon at the point of sale.

The benefits of the Offers service include the following:

• Provides you with the convenience of receiving and storing offers on your mobile phone.
• Eliminates the need for you to clip and save a paper coupon by providing the convenience of receiving and storing an offer on the mobile phone.
  NOTE: NOTE: Not all offers require you to present a coupon or enter a redemption code. These offers are fulfilled by sending a monetary credit to your statement.
• Applies discounts automatically to your statement, when discounts are fulfilled using statement credits.
• Makes it easy to redeem offers by including a link to a map that displays the closest merchant locations to your mobile phone, the merchant's URL for an online offer or the merchant's phone number as applicable.

The Offers service includes a variety of offer types including:

• In-store discounts: Visit the merchant's physical retail location and show the cashier the offer on your mobile phone to receive a discounted price at the time of purchase.
• Online and telephone order discounts: Enter or select the offer's merchant URL and, in some cases, a unique code, to receive a discount on the purchase price online, or call the telephone number in the offer and give the agent the unique code to receive a discount.
• Statement credit: Visit the merchants physical or online retail location and make a purchase using the enrolled Visa card. The discount is credited to your Visa card and appears as a credit on a future statement.

Visa does not charge you for the Offers service; however, standard text messaging rates from your mobile service provider may apply to SMS offer messages. You should consult your mobile service plan and if you have any questions about whether you are charged for standard text messages or data services, please contact your mobile service provider's customer service.

No, your Visa card number is not referenced in any of the offers.

The Offers service is part of Visa Mobile. You must enroll in Visa Mobile to receive offers.

Offers are sent to the Visa Mobile offers area on your mobile phone. You may also receive an SMS notification of a new offer sent to the Visa Mobile offers area if you have not already viewed the offer.

When you access the offers area within Visa Mobile for the first time, you are prompted to select offer categories for which you would like to receive offers. Current offers within the categories you select are immediately delivered to the Visa Mobile offers area on your mobile phone.

If a new offer within a selected category becomes available, an offer notification is sent to the Visa Mobile offers area and to your mobile phone's default SMS inbox. (Note: This notification will not be sent if you have already viewed the new offer from the Visa Mobile offers area.) When your mobile phone receives the SMS offer notification message, your mobile phone's notification mechanism responds. Depending on your mobile phone plan, you may be charged for the offer notification messages sent to the mobile phone's default SMS inbox.

You can select the categories of merchants from which you would like to receive offers (retail, entertainment, etc.). You cannot select specific merchants, however.

Step-by-step instructions for selecting merchant categories are as follows:

1. Open Visa Mobile to display the landing page.
2. From the Visa Mobile splash screen, select Settings, and then Offers to open the Offers Settings screen.
3. Select your preferred offers categories and select Save.

You begin to receive offers immediately upon successful enrollment in Visa Mobile.

Yes if you have not already viewed the new offer in the Visa Mobile offers area. The receipt of a corresponding SMS offer notification triggers the handset setting that you have set up (i.e., tone, vibration, or other related features).

Yes, you can delete offers from the Visa Mobile offers area.

To opt-out of receiving offers at any time, you may take one of the following actions:

• Deselect the offer category in the settings area of Visa Mobile.
• Text "offers STOP" to the short code MVISA (68472).
• Reply using "offers STOP" to any SMS message you received as part of Visa Mobile.

The way you redeem an offer depends on the type of offer.

• In-store redemption:
  Visit the merchant's physical retail location and show the cashier the offer displayed on your mobile phone. The merchant discounts the price and you pay for your purchase using your enrolled Visa card.
• Online and telephone order redemption:
  To redeem an online or telephone offer, use the link to the merchant's website or the telephone number provided in the offer. In most cases the offer includes a unique code that you enter at checkout or give to the telephone order agent to receive the discount. In some cases the discount is automatically applied during the online checkout process when you use your enrolled Visa card to complete the purchase. The discount is applied directly to the purchase price.
• Statement credit redemption:
  Visit a participating merchant's physical or online retail location, make a qualifying purchase using your enrolled Visa card, and receive a credit on a future Visa card statement for the appropriate discount value.

Yes, as stated in the terms and conditions, to get the discount you must pay using the Visa card that you enrolled in Visa Mobile.

Not all offers include specific terms and conditions. If an offer includes terms and conditions, you can display them on your mobile phone screen.

No, these offers are for your use only and may not be shared or distributed. Also, some offers are valid for one use only.

Yes, but only in cases where showing your mobile phone is a requirement for redemption (such as presenting the offer on your mobile phone to the cashier at the point of sale).

Offers are stored in the offers area in Visa Mobile. You can view, delete, and redeem offers.

Yes, all offers have expiration dates. Each offer's end date is displayed.

You cannot sort offers; however, you can filter by offer categories.

Yes, you can turn on new merchant categories and turn off ones you previously selected.

Yes, you can limit the offers received by selecting only offer categories of interest to you.

The Locator service makes it easy for you to get cash and other services from ATMs where Visa cards are accepted and to find nearby merchant locations to redeem offers. The Locator service shows ATM and merchant locations on a Locator service map displayed on your mobile phone. You have the option of displaying only ATM locations or only merchant locations or both at the same time. You can generate a Locator service map that contains directions from the mobile phone's current location to a selected ATM or merchant location.

The Locator service offers the following benefits:

• Provides you with the convenience and speed of on-demand lookup for the street address of and directions from the location of your mobile phone to a selected ATM or merchant location.
• Facilitates your access to ATMs where Visa cards are accepted.
• Enables you to locate nearby merchant locations where offers can be redeemed.

You can access the Visa Locator service from Visa Mobile. The Locator service maps automatically display the locations of all ATMs where Visa cards are accepted and merchants that have sent offers within a 10-mile radius of the mobile phone's location. ATMs for your enrolled cards are indicated by blue symbols, other ATMs are indicated by green symbols and merchant locations by gold symbols.

To get address information about a specific ATM or merchant, click on the symbol that represents the ATM or merchant. The address is displayed.

To get directions, select Get Directions for turn-by-turn directions from the mobile phone's location to the selected location.