Visa (V) is eliminating 7% of its global workforce as the credit card giant embraces artificial intelligence (A.I.).
The company, which operates the world’s largest payment network, said it is cutting 2,600 jobs, mostly in its technology and product divisions.
In a memo to staff that was leaked to the media, Visa CEO Ryan McInerney said the goal is to streamline the company and invest more in growth.
“AI is also helping to accelerate this evolution and shape the way work gets done at Visa,” said McInerney in the memo.
The layoffs come as companies across the financial sector increasingly use A.I. to automate work that had been done by humans, such as software development and customer service.
Visa has a stated goal to invest more in growth areas, notably affluent customers, cross border transactions, and business payments.
Visa is also investing in cryptocurrencies, especially stablecoins that are digital assets pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar.
Visa had 34,100 employees at the end of its last fiscal year.
The job cuts were announced on the same day as Visa’s latest financial results. The company posted sales and profit figures that surpassed Wall Street forecasts.
For what was its fiscal third-quarter, Visa announced earnings per share (EPS) of $3.32 U.S., which was ahead of the $3.23 U.S. consensus estimate among analysts.
Revenue of $11.63 billion U.S. beat the $11.37 billion U.S. that had been forecast on Wall Street. Sales were up 14% from a year earlier.
V stock has risen 4% over the last 12 months to trade at $366.59 U.S. per share.