Visa cuts 2,600 jobs, including 320 in California

Payment processing giant Visa recently conducted a brutal layoff of 2,600 jobs — and not even top executives were spared.

The San Francisco-based credit card titan filed a notice with California on July 31 revealing that 320 employees will lose their jobs at its Foster City campus.

The bloodbath hit well beyond rank-and-file workers: The filing shows 37 senior directors are being cut, along with 16 chief engineering and architect positions, as well as dozens of senior software engineers, researchers and other technical employees.

Six vice presidents also lost their jobs; LinkedIn job postings cited by SFGATE show those VP roles advertised salaries ranging from $235,700 to $458,000, excluding potential sales incentive payments.

The job cuts are part of the wider 2,600-job reduction across the company, around a 7% reduction, Bloomberg reported.

“I have deep conviction that we are doing what is right for Visa, our clients and our partners as we continue to focus on driving efficiency across the company in order to reinvest in our highest potential opportunities,” Visa CEO Ryan McInerney wrote.

“To capture the opportunities ahead and best position Visa to lead this transformation, we must continue evolving how we work,” he continued. “AI is also helping to accelerate this evolution and shape the way work gets done at Visa.”

Part of the layoff effort could be fueled by Silicon Valley’s artificial intelligence boom, which many companies have turned to as a justification for needing fewer workers.

Visa had only recently announced its $2.4 billion cash acquisition of BioCatch, an Israeli company specializing in AI-powered fraud detection. In an Aug. 3 news release, the acquired company said it will be able to detect fraud through AI analyzing keystrokes, touch gestures and other data.

“The acquisition of BioCatch complements Visa’s existing cyber, fraud, risk, and security solutions and is expected to help clients better protect themselves and their customers,” the news release said.

The fintech space is going through similar layoffs. Mastercard said in January, when it announced it will lay off 4% of its workforce to “refocus investments in other areas.”

The AI boom has had negative consequences for the broader tech sector.

US tech employment had its worst start to the year since 2023, with AI blamed for tens of thousands of brutal job cuts, according to a new report. The first three months of 2026 saw 52,050 tech layoffs — a 40% jump from the same period last year, executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in a report published earlier in the year.

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