Visa Brand Mark

Reproduction and Applications Guide

United States

The Visa Brand Mark The Visa Brand Mark reflects our dynamic vision and global positioning, as well as
valuable color equity. The mark serves both as Visa’s corporate identity and as
Visa’s primary global acceptance mark. As Visa’s corporate identity, the Visa Brand
Mark represents our organization and the entire family of Visa® payment products
and services. As Visa’s primary global acceptance mark, the Visa Brand Mark is
used on communications and materials that promote usage or indicate acceptance
of the payment products on which it appears.

This guide contains specifications to help Visa USA and its Member financial
institutions, merchants and partners accurately reproduce the Visa Brand Mark
across all media. Correct and consistent reproduction is essential to protecting the
integrity of this valuable asset. Please follow these application and reproduction
guidelines precisely wherever the Visa Brand Mark is used.

Applications
The Visa Brand Mark should be used:
• As the corporate signature on Visa business cards and stationery items
• As an introductory and/or a sign-off mark on Member and
merchant materials
• On premium items and special event materials when representing the
Visa organization
• As a corporate identifier on Visa presentations and videos
• When promoting the organization or the entire family of Visa products
and services
• When representing the Visa organization in conjunction with a contracted
sponsorship or event. The Visa Brand Mark can be used alone or combined
with the sponsorship mark to form a composite logo
• On check presenters and tip trays, web pages, point-of-sale (POS) and other
communications that indicate Visa products are accepted (see “Visa Point-of-
Sale Graphic” on page 3 regarding ATM signage and acceptance decals)
• Communications and materials that promote applying for, activating, using,
or retaining a payment product bearing the Visa Brand Mark
To preserve a consistent image, new designs or marks should not be created to
represent parts of the Visa organization. A proliferation of marks confuses and
dilutes the impact of the company’s identity.
 Visa Brand Mark
Reproduction and
Applications Guide

ADVERTISING, MARKETING AND PROMOTION APPLICATIONS

Make sure the Visa Brand Mark is full and clearly visible —never altered or
partially concealed—when used in any print, online advertising, and promotional
materials. In television advertising, the Visa Brand Mark may be animated, as
long as its final appearance is a full, undistorted image to reinforce the integrity
of the trademark.
Clear space around Visa Brand Mark Maintain a clear space—free of any text or graphic—around the Visa Brand Mark.
x = height of the “V” in logotype The clear space must be equal to the height of the “V” in the Visa Brand Mark,
applied on all sides, as shown in the diagram to the left.
x
When merchants use an image of a co-branded Visa card with their name and
logo or a Member’s name and logo on it in their advertising and promotions to
x x
indicate acceptance of Visa cards, the piece must also show the Visa Brand Mark
x alone, at least as large as the Visa Brand Mark within the card reproduction. This
helps avoid the impression that only a single merchant’s or Member’s Visa cards
are accepted.
Never use the Visa Brand Mark in a way that implies endorsement of or
association with any other product or service, without prior written permission
from Visa USA.

VISA BRAND NAME IN TEXT

Consistent usage of the name “Visa” avoids confusion and strengthens the
brand identity. When you use the name Visa in copy, always use an initial capital
letter V. Never combine the name Visa with other words, such as “VisaMoney” or
“MoneyVisa” or create new words with the name Visa, such as “Visability.”
On materials that will be distributed only within the United States, “Visa” must
be accompanied by a ® symbol when it refers to Visa-branded products and
services, as in “Visa® card.”
Do not use the registration symbol when referring to the association itself, as in
“Visa is a sponsor of the Olympic Games.”

® Registration Symbol Usage Rules for the Visa Brand Name

For US Communications Only
On print materials, denote the name Visa with a superscript ® symbol if the
materials are for US distribution only; do not use the symbol on materials going
outside the US.
For Web sites and other online communications, use trademark symbols if the
communication is intended for a predominantly US audience.
Never use the superscript TM symbol.
The “First or Most Prominent” Rule
Use the ® symbol at its first or most prominent mention. If the name Visa
appears first in a headline, subhead, or title, and also appears in body text,
place the ® symbol after the first body-text use.
 Visa Brand Mark
Reproduction and
Applications Guide

One
® Per Piece
Denote a trademark once per printed piece, not every time the name Visa
appears, as in “Visa® cards are carried by Visa cardholders.”
For folders or marketing kits with multiple inserts, treat each item (e.g., the
pocket folder and each insert) as a separate piece.
For binders with loose-leaf sections, treat the binder as one piece and all of the
loose-leaf pages as a second piece.
For Web sites and other online communications, treat the entire site as
one piece.

Visa Brand Mark with CARD APPLICATIONS

standardized white background
On cards, the Visa Brand Mark appears in Visa Blue and Visa Gold on a
standardized white background as shown to the left.
The Visa Brand Mark should not appear on any card with marks belonging to,
owned by or affiliated with American Express, Europay International, MasterCard
International, Morgan Stanley, Discover and Company, or any entity deemed
competitive by Visa.
Contact your Visa representative or call the Visa Card Design Hotline at
415.932.2575 for card design specifications and approvals.

For online merchant locations that POINT-OF-SALE AND ATM APPLICATIONS

accept Visa products, the full-color
Visa Brand Mark must appear The Visa Brand Mark should be used on check presenters and tip trays, web
pages, and other point-of-sale materials and communications that indicate Visa
products are accepted.
For online point-of-sale applications, the Visa Brand Mark must appear in full color
(Visa Blue and Visa Gold), at least as large as all other marks displayed.
Full-color Visa point-of-sale graphic Visa Point-of-Sale Graphic
on white/light background
The Visa point-of-sale graphic has been created for use exclusively on ATMs and
on acceptance decals at all physical merchant locations that accept Visa payment
products. It consists of the full-color Visa Brand Mark and a standardized white
background with a Visa Blue border element, as shown to the left.
Point of Sale (POS) Acceptance Decals
The Visa point-of-sale graphic must be prominently displayed in full color at
Visa point-of-sale graphic on qualifying merchant locations to indicate acceptance of products bearing the Visa
dark background
Brand Mark. The Visa point-of-sale graphic must be at least as large as all other
marks displayed and no smaller than 2-1/8 inches (54 mm) high.
ATMs
Display the Visa point-of-sale graphic on all ATMs that accept Visa cards. If the
ATM is inside the bank branch or other facility, display the Visa point-of-sale
graphic near the main entrance and at the ATM.
 Visa Brand Mark
Reproduction and
Applications Guide

Single-color Visa point-of-sale When used alone, the Visa point-of-sale graphic at the ATM must be at least
graphic on white/light background
2-1/8 inches (54 mm) high and proportionately scaled. It must be at least as
large as all other marks displayed on the ATM, with the exception of the
Member’s own proprietary network mark.
If any other marks appear in full color, the Visa point-of-sale graphic must appear
in full color. When all other marks appear in a single color, the Visa point-of-sale
graphic may appear in that single color, such as in black as shown to the left.
Single-color Visa point-of-sale
graphic on dark background Reproduction Specifications and Artwork
Always use the Visa Brand Mark and the Visa point-of-sale graphic as they are
shown in this guide. Never alter the letters, spacing, or any design element.
Always scale the artwork to maintain its correct proportion.
The artwork shown in this guide are examples only, and should not be used
for reproduction. To obtain reproduction artwork, contact Visa USA Brand
Management by phone at 415.932.2575 or by email at [email protected].

® REGISTRATION SYMBOL
Do not use the trademark registration symbol in association with the Visa Brand
Mark until notice has been received that the mark is fully registered, which is
anticipated in 2006. Visa USA will distribute a communication, as well as related
artwork when the registration is complete.
Do not use the ® symbol on materials intended for international distribution.

COLOR SPECIFICATIONS
Accurate color reproduction is crucial to the appropriate perception of the Visa
brand. The examples below show the correct color applications of the Visa
Brand Mark on different backgrounds.
To maximize the equity of the Visa colors, the Visa Brand Mark should appear in
Visa Blue and Visa Gold whenever possible, and must always appear that way
when reproduced in full color on a white background.

Full-color on white/light background Full-color on dark background Single-color on white/light Single-color on dark background
The Visa Brand Mark may appear The Visa Brand Mark appears in background The Visa Brand Mark appears in
on a white background or light Visa Gold and white on a dark Visa Blue or black is the preferred white on a dark background.
background that is neutral in color background. color for single color reproduction.
to allow sufficient contrast for both
Visa Blue and Visa Gold.
Visa Brand Mark
Reproduction and
Applications Guide

Print Application Specifications

Visually match Visa Blue and Visa Gold to the appropriate PANTONE® colors
when printing in spot color. When printing the colors in 4-color process, use the
specific CMYK formulas listed below. Do not use Pantone spot color swatches
for matching 4-color process colors.

Pantone CMYK RGB Hexadecimal

Visa Blue Pantone 286 C100 M65 Y0 K10 R0 G35 B160 00 23 A0
Visa Gold Pantone 1375C C00 M40 Y100 K0 R255 G160 B0 FF A0 00
Pantone 137U C00 M40 Y100 K0

On-Screen Specifications
The Visa-specific RGB equivalents and hexadecimal formulas are provided above.
• Convert Visa Blue and Visa Gold to the Visa-specific RGB colors. Please
note: converting to RGB from Pantone spot colors or CMYK will not
automatically produce the Visa-specific RGB colors in the final Web graphic.
• Save Visa Brand Mark artwork as GIFs with all necessary colors. This will
maintain the correct RGB values in non-anti-aliased areas.
• When copying artwork from one application into another, convert the new
document to RGB before pasting RGB artwork into the file.

PANTONE® is a registered trademark of Pantone, Inc.

In lieu of the color(s) listed on this page, you may use the PANTONE® Colors cited, the standards for
which can be found in the current edition of the PANTONE formula guide. The colors shown in this guide
have not been checked by Pantone, Inc. for accuracy. For accurate color, refer to the most recent Pantone © 2005 Visa U.S.A. Inc.
Color Formula Guide. V13553-09-05V