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Does Visa support Israel?

Visa Inc.

Business presence documentedupdated 2026-09-26

Visa does business in Israel — we found records of its operations there, but no record of donations, aid, or a public statement of support. Every claim below links to its source.

Filed under: Banks & financial companies · Tech companies · Companies that support Israel

Background

Visa's documented ties to Israel are commercial and operational: a Tel Aviv innovation studio open since 2018 and partnerships with Israeli fintech startups. An earlier Herzliya fintech hub, "Visa Europe Collab" (2015), was launched by Visa Europe, then a separate company that Visa Inc. acquired in 2016. In August 2026 Visa went a step beyond partnership and agreed to buy an Israeli company outright — the fraud-prevention firm BioCatch, for $2.4 billion in cash, from funds advised by Permira and other shareholders — a purchase that still needs regulatory approval and that pays BioCatch's owners, not an Israeli cause. Despite viral social-media posts claiming Visa "donated to Israel" after October 7, 2023, no verified record of a Visa Inc. corporate donation, employee-match program or public statement in support of Israel's war effort was found in company press releases or news coverage — Visa is notably absent from contemporaneous lists of corporate donors compiled by Israeli and US business media.

Visa (official Israel site — innovation studio) Visa (investor relations — BioCatch agreement, August 2026) Times of Israel (Visa Europe Collab, 2015) Ynet News (corporate donor round-up, Oct 2023 — Visa absent) Calcalist / CTech (corporate support round-up, Oct 2023 — Visa absent)

Timeline of documented records

201820202022202420262018-02 — Operations in Israel: Israel operations (Innovation Studio Tel Aviv)Operations in Israel2018-022019-09 — Partnership: ChargeAfter, Mesh Payments, Zooz (PayU) — Israeli fintech companiesPartnership2019-092020-10 — Partnership: GetHere, Spendl, Pinch, GoGo Getter — Israeli startupsPartnership2020-102026-08 — Acquisition: BioCatch Ltd. (Israeli fraud-prevention company, Tel Aviv) — paid to funds advised by Permira and other shareholdersAcquisition2026-08

Documented records

TypeDateAmountRecipientSources
Operations in Israel2018-02—Israel operations (Innovation Studio Tel Aviv)
Opened its Innovation Studio Tel Aviv on February 13, 2018 — a 500-square-meter space at 22 Rothschild Boulevard and the tenth studio in Visa's global innovation network — built, in Visa's words, "to foster collaboration between Visa and the Israeli fintech ecosystem." The studio remains in operation and connects Israeli startups to Visa's clients and programs.
Partnership2019-09—ChargeAfter, Mesh Payments, Zooz (PayU) — Israeli fintech companies
Visa's Tel Aviv innovation studio announced commercial partnerships with three Israeli fintech firms — ChargeAfter (point-of-sale financing), Mesh Payments (B2B cross-border payments) and Zooz by PayU (online payment routing) — to develop payment solutions for the retail and B2B sectors. The studio head said its focus is "investments and creating business partnerships with Israeli fintech and paytech companies."
Partnership2020-10—GetHere, Spendl, Pinch, GoGo Getter — Israeli startups
Four more Israeli startups joined the Visa Innovation Studio in Tel Aviv to integrate their payment products — contactless hospitality ordering (GetHere), crypto payments over the Visa network (Spendl), creator-supporting debit cards (Pinch) and childcare financing (GoGo Getter) — with Visa's merchant and banking network.
Acquisition2026-08-03$2,400,000,000BioCatch Ltd. (Israeli fraud-prevention company, Tel Aviv) — paid to funds advised by Permira and other shareholders
Visa announced on August 3, 2026 that it had signed a definitive agreement to buy BioCatch — an Israeli fraud-prevention company whose software reads keystrokes, touch gestures and device handling to tell legitimate users from fraudsters — for $2.4 billion in cash. Visa is buying the shares from funds advised by the private-equity firm Permira and from other shareholders, so the cash goes to BioCatch's owners, not to any Israeli institution or cause; Globes called it one of the largest deals ever done in Israeli tech. BioCatch chief executive Gadi Mazor said the company would carry on as before inside Visa's value-added services organisation, keeping its management team and reporting structure. What is recorded here is the signed agreement, not a completed purchase: it is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, and Visa said it expected the deal to close by the end of its fiscal second quarter of 2027.

Frequently asked questions

Did Visa donate money to Israel or Israeli causes?

We have no records of donations. What is on record is commercial activity in Israel (Operations in Israel, Partnership, Acquisition), which is not the same as support — see the records on this page.

Where does this information come from?

Every record on this page links to its source — news reports, official company statements, tax filings, or government records. 15 distinct sources are cited for Visa. Our methodology page explains the full verification process.

Sources & citations

Record last updated: 2026-09-26

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