Good morning. Welcome to the Visa Incorporated Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I would now like to turn the conference over to Al Kelly. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Al Kelly, the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board Visa Inc. On behalf of the Board, our management team and all the employees of Visa, it's my pleasure to welcome you to our 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. As Chairman, I now call the meeting to order. As described in our proxy materials, We are holding a virtual annual meeting of stockholders this year rather than an in person meeting in light of the ongoing COVID-nineteen pandemic Recorded and a replay will be available on the Investor Relations website.
We're excited to host today's meeting through this virtual online platform, which allows us to open access and participation in the meeting with stockholders around the world. Please remember that you may vote your shares online anytime during this meeting prior to Before proceeding with the business of the meeting, I'd like to note that all of our directors And a number of our key executives are in attendance virtually today. Also with us this morning are Charles Lynch and Alan Telmo KPMG, our independent registered public accounting firm. They will be available to answer questions as needed later in the meeting. At this time, Kelly Mahan Tullier, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary of Visa, We'll conduct the formal portion of this meeting and record the minutes.
Then I will present an overview of Visa's fiscal 2020 results and business strategy, and then we'll address any questions you have. Kelly, over to you.
Thank you, Al. Good morning. The agenda and rules of conduct for the meeting are posted on the online meeting platform in the meeting materials section and outline how we will proceed with today's meeting. In order to allow for an orderly meeting and to permit enough time for questions, we ask that you abide by these rules. After the proposals are presented, we will answer questions received regarding the 7 proposals being voted on at today's meeting.
There will also be a business question and answer period after Al's presentation. If you would like to ask a question and you have not already submitted one online, Please type your question into the ask a question field and click submit or call the toll free number listed in the proxy statement. Please also be sure to mute your computer or other device you are using to listen to the meeting While asking your questions, out of consideration for others, please limit yourself to 2 questions. Questions will be subject to the rules of conduct of the meeting. In case we are unable to answer all questions submitted due to time constraints, we'll post answers to all questions submitted In writing on our website as soon as practicable.
We have an affidavit from Broadridge certifying that the stockholders of record as of November 27, 2020 were mailed a notice of Internet availability of proxy materials on or about December 3, 2020. The affidavit of mailing and notice will be filed within minutes of this meeting. Andrew Wilcox, on behalf of Broadridge, Has been appointed to serve as Inspector of Election. Mr. Wilcox has taken the oath of office and is prepared to serve.
Mr. Wilcox has advised me that we have present in person or by proxy a sufficient number of shares to constitute a quorum. Accordingly, the meeting is duly constituted and we may proceed with business. It is 8:33 am on January 26 And the polls are now open for voting. They will close at the conclusion of the formal portion of this meeting.
Until the polls close, Any stockholder may revoke or change his or her vote on any matter. However, once the polls close, no further proxies or votes or any revocations or changes Will be accepted. There are 7 proposals on the agenda today, including 2 proposals submitted by stockholders. Stockholders with control numbers can vote online now by pressing the Vote Here button located on the lower portion of your screen. You do not need to take any further action if you have already voted and do not wish to change your vote.
For the stockholder Representative presenting a proposal, please state your name and verify that you are a stockholder or a representative of a stockholder. As required under the rules of conduct for the meeting, presenters are required to keep their presentations to 5 minutes in the interest of time. The first proposal is to elect 12 directors to Visa's Board of Directors. The Board nominees for election to the Board of Directors are Lloyd Carney, Mary Cranston, Francisco Javier Fernandez Carvajal, Alfred Kelly, Ramon Laguarta, John Lundgren, Robert Motulat, Denise Morrison, Suzanne Nora Johnson, Linda Rendle, John Swainson and Maynard Webb. We did not receive any other nominations for Director.
As indicated in the proxy statement, the Board recommends that the stockholders elect the Director nominees. The second proposal is an advisory vote to approve the compensation of our named executive officers. As indicated in the proxy statement, The Board recommends that stockholders vote in favor of this proposal. The 3rd proposal is to ratify the appointment of KPMG LLP As mentioned previously, representatives of KPMG are participating and are available to answer questions you may have during the business Q and A session. The 4th proposal is to approve the Visa Inc.
2007 Equity Incentive Compensation Plan as amended and restated. As indicated in the proxy statement, the Board recommends that the stockholders vote in favor of this proposal. The 5th proposal To approve an amendment to our certificate of incorporation to enable the adoption of a special meeting right for Class A common stockholders. As indicated in the proxy statement, the Board recommends that the stockholders vote in favor of this proposal. The 6th proposal is a stockholder proposal requesting Right for stockholders to act by written consent, if properly represented.
As required under the rules of conduct for the meeting, The introduction and presentation of the proposal will be limited to 5 minutes. Operator, please open the phone line Welcome, Mr. Chvedden. Please introduce your proposal and make a brief supporting statement.
Hello. This is John Chevedden. Can you hear me okay?
Yes, we can.
Okay. This is Proposal 6, adopt The mainstream shareholder rights written consent. Shareholders requested our Board of Directors take the steps necessary to permit written consent By the shareholders entitled to cast the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize an action at a meeting At which all shareholders entitled to vote thereon were present and voting. Hundreds of major companies enable shareholder action by written consent. This proposal topic won majority shareholder support at 13 large companies in a single year.
This included 67% support at both Allstate and Sprint. This proposal topic also won 63% This proposal topic would have received still higher votes if more shareholders had access to independent The normal annual meeting cycle like the election of a new Director. For instance, Mr. Lloyd Carney, who chaired the Visa Audit Committee, We see 25 times as many negative votes as each of his peers on the Visa Board in 2020. This proposal is already somewhat successful because it triggered management to adopt a shareholder right To call a special shareholder meeting, which is Proposal 5.
Management is telling a white lie regarding the reason management put Proposal 5 on the ballot. Proposal 5 is at least a baby step forward. However, Proposal 5 will result in adding 2,000 convoluted bylaw words to restrict the right that it supposedly grants to shareholders. The 2,000 convoluted words may be an indication that shareholders will not have a meaningful right to call a special meeting. Shareholders can be confident that this Proposal 6 for a shareholder right to act by written consent is a sound proposal Due to the length that management went to distract shareholders by putting Proposal 5 on the ballot, Please vote yes.
Adopt a mainstream shareholder write written consent proposal 6. I just wanted to add that I submitted 2 questions in regard to
Thank you, Mr. Chevedden. We appreciate your ongoing engagement with the company. As to the proposal, The Board unanimously recommends that stockholders vote against this proposal because we believe that matters requiring stockholder approval should be presented to and voted on By all stockholders. We believe that the special meeting right empowers all stockholders to participate and cast informed votes.
And our existing corporate governance practices promote Board and management accountability. The 7th proposal is a stockholder proposal to amend our principles of executive compensation program if properly presented. As required under the rules of conduct for the meeting, The introduction and presentation of the proposal will be limited to 5 minutes. Operator, please open the phone line for Mr. Zhao.
Welcome, Mr. Zhao. Please introduce your proposal and make a brief supporting statement.
Good morning, everyone. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can Mr. Zhao.
Good morning. My name is Jin Zhao and my proposal is To recommend that Visa improve the principles of executive compensation program to include CEO pay ratio and other factors. There is no need to repeat the full contents of my proposal, but I want to emphasize 2 points. First, I'm disappointed of the Board's opposition statement and especially notice that the CEO pay ratio Increased from 147:1 in 20 18 to 170:1 in 2019 to 195:1 in 2020 Under the current pandemic crisis, second, my proposal asked us the consideration of As the nuclear physics students in China at the late stage of the Cold War And then a sociology graduate student in Japan and then a political scientist in the U. S, I have writing many articles and books on U.
S.-Japan China comparative policy issue, especially I clearly see that America's ballooning executive compensation is not sustainable for the economy. I have similar proposals being voted or will be voted at Apple, AT and T, Applied Material, Ebay, Amazon and others. We must restore the solar of America. President Biden asked us, My whole story is this, bring American together, bring our people, uniting our nation, And I ask every American to join me in this course. The world has changed sharply and fundamentally.
American corporate governance must change with the solar to unite America. The endless increase of CEO pay ratio must end now. Please vote for proposal 7
Thank you, Mr. Zhao. We appreciate your ongoing engagement with the company. As to the proposal, The Board unanimously recommends that stockholders vote against this proposal because our executive compensation program is Designed to promote our long term business strategy and stockholder feedback has been positive overall with over 95% support We will now answer questions related to the proposals that we have received. The first question relates to proposal 1.
Al, can you discuss Board composition, including diversity and tenure?
Be happy to Kelly. The Board clearly recognizes the importance of having a Board with diversity of all experiences, skills, gender, Race, ethnicity and cultural background. And when we look at our current Board, it exhibits an effective mix of diversity, experience and perspective. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee maintains an evergreen list of potential director candidates including women and ethically diverse Candidates that we review during each of our board meetings. We require search firms to include women and other diverse candidates in the candidate pool for our Director searches.
Today, the Board currently consists of 12 directors, 5 of whom have been on the Board since our IPO in 2,008. The remaining 7 directors have joined the Board since 2014, leading to an average tenure of approximately 7 years. 92% of the Board is independent, 25% of the Board is diverse based on race and ethnicity and 33% of the Board is female. In November, the Board appointed Clorox's CEO, Linda Reundels to the Board and we think she'll be a fantastic addition. And the Board is Always seeking talented directors and we've added a new director to the Board each of the past 7 years.
Thanks, Al. Our second question asks about why KPMG was retained in light of last year's settlement with the SEC?
Kelly, thanks again for the question. KPMG has been Visa's independent auditors since our IPO and the audit and risk committee Continues to be very satisfied with their services. Proposal 3 in the proxy statement describes the factors That the Audit and Risk Committee considered when deciding to reappoint KPMG, including KPMG's tenure, independence, Objectivity, capability, expertise, performance, quality and quality of communications with the audit and risk committee. It also takes into account recent PTAOB inspection reports and the appropriateness of KPMG's fees. Management And the Audit and Risk Committee reviewed the SEC settlement, including discussions with senior KPMG leadership and a review of all public available information.
Based on this review, the audit and risk committee were satisfied that KPMG remains extremely well Qualified to serve as our independent auditor.
Thank you, Al. That concludes the questions we have received on the proposal. In summary, the Board recommends that you vote for the election of each director nominee and for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th proposals and against the 6th and 7th proposals. In a moment, we will close the poll. Please make any final votes online now by clicking the Vote Here button at We will now move to the voting results.
It is 8:47 am on January 26 and the polls are now closed. No additional proxies, votes, Changes or revocations will be accepted. I have received the preliminary voting results to the Inspector of Election based on the proxies received As of the opening of the polls of today's meeting, votes and proxies received during the meeting will be tabulated by the Inspector of Election and included in the final tally, which will be filed with the minutes of this Annual Meeting of Stockholders. In addition, we will report the final voting results and our current report on Form 8 ks within 4 business days from today. The preliminary results of the voting are as follows.
Proposal 1, each of the Board's 12 nominees has been elected to the Board of Directors. Proposal 2, the advisory vote to approve the compensation The company's named executive officers has been approved. Proposal 3, the proposal to ratify the appointment of KPMG LLP to serve as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2020 fiscal year has been approved. Proposal 4, The proposal to approve the Visa Inc. 2007 Equity Incentive Plan as amended and restated has been approved.
Proposal 5. The proposal to approve an amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation to enable the adoption of a special meeting right For Class A common stockholders has been approved. Proposal 6, the stockholder proposal requesting the right for stockholders to act by written consent Has not been approved. Proposal 7, the stockholder proposal to amend our principles of executive compensation program has not been approved. I will now return the floor to Al.
Thank you, Kelly. That ends the formal portion of our meeting. I want to thank everybody for attending. There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting is now adjourned. Next, I'd like to present an overview of Visa's fiscal 2020 financial results and business strategy.
Good morning again and I appreciate everybody joining us today. Fiscal year 2020 was uniquely a challenging year, a year we navigated the global pandemic and the long overdue momentum toward a meaningful change for racial and social justice. We remain focused on driving positive change within our organization and in our communities. Before talking about Visa's larger strategy, let me start with a quick summary of our financial results for fiscal 2020. In reflecting on our year, we got off to a strong start in October 2019, but our business began to be impacted modestly by the emergence of the virus Asia in late January and the negative effects grew in mid March as COVID-nineteen spread around the globe, forcing countries to lockdown.
While the impact on our financial results in the second half of the year was significant, we were thoughtful and adjusted our expenses accordingly. At the same time, we manage our business for the long term, so we carefully continue to invest to transform the movement of money both on the Visa network and beyond. We reported net operating revenue of $21,800,000,000 5% decrease from the prior year. Non GAAP earnings per share was $5.04 a decrease of 7% from 2019. Payments volume in fiscal 2020 remained consistent with the prior year at $8,800,000,000,000 Despite the impact to our financial results, we continue to invest at healthy levels to drive future growth, while also returning $10,800,000,000 to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends.
As we reflect on the entire fiscal year 2020, our global network connecting issuers and merchants got stronger on a number of dimensions. The number of credentials issued by our 15,400 Financial Institution Clients increased to 3,500,000,000 And those credentials can be used at nearly 70,000,000 merchant locations, up 16% year over year. Total Visa volume surpassed $11,300,000,000,000 driven by $204,000,000,000 total transactions, Meaning that on average Visa cards were used almost 560,000,000 times a day, every day in fiscal 2020. Our strategy has not changed as a result of the pandemic. We are expanding and transforming the movement of money by concentrating on our 3 strategic priorities.
Number 1, consumer payments, the foundation of our business and the backbone of global commerce. Number 2, driving new flows, Supporting various use cases for moving money globally. And number 3, selling value added services, which provide insights and expertise for our partners. While the pandemic did not result in changes in our strategy, it did change or alter the trajectory of a few purchasing trends Favorable to Visa. In fiscal year 2020, there was a significant acceleration to shift The $18,000,000,000,000 in consumer payments from cash to digital forms of payments.
Consumer and sellers are worried about the safety of cash. The quest for safe payment experiences drove real progress in tap to pay. Tap to pay, which is tapping a contactless card Or a mobile device on a terminal to make a payment with a card not leaving the consumer's hands. It grew 65% grew to 65% of all face to face transactions around the world In fiscal 2020, excluding the U. S, up more than 10 percentage points from a year ago.
The U. S. Is one of the most significant opportunities for growth in tap to pay and is catching up to global adoption with approximately 300,000,000 Visa contactless cards in the U. S. Market as of December 31.
Visa has also partnered with governments in over 50 markets around the world to raise the contactless payment limits. With many of us stuck at home, e commerce really took off. Excluding travel, active credentials in e commerce rose 14% from January to September of 2020. And Visa also crossed the $1,400,000,000 token level globally this year. Finally, during the past year, we renewed and won hundreds of deals with traditional banks and FinTechs around the world.
Over the last several years, Visa has invested in expanding beyond traditional consumer to business payments to capture growth in new payment flows, such as person to person, business to consumer, business to business and government to consumer payments. Today, partners are increasingly using Visa's network infrastructure and capabilities to unlock a growing market opportunity. Here again, COVID-nineteen accelerated the urgency for secure, fast and seamless money movement. One example I'd highlight is Visa Direct, our push payments platform, saw our transactions grow nearly 70% To almost 3,500,000,000 transactions globally in fiscal 2020. Our clients are increasingly looking to Visa for insights and expertise on how to best manage and grow their businesses, especially during the pandemic.
Visa has a rich set of products and capabilities in a number of areas, Issuer and Consumer Solutions, Merchant and Acquirer Solutions, Data Solutions, Fraud Management and Security Services, Visa Consulting and Analytics. Visa's value added services revenue grew 18% this past year, showcasing the client demand for these services. And let me highlight a few tools and services. Within merchant and acquire solutions, CyberSource enables sellers to offer omnichannel digital commerce Our multi pronged fraud management and security strategy is based on empowering consumers and clients through tools, resources and controls to make more informed risk decisions. So for example, our Visa Advanced Authorization Risk tool Scored 141,000,000,000 Visa Process Transactions.
In the last year, Visa's artificial intelligence powered risk Foreign engine helped financial institutions prevent almost $25,000,000,000 in fraud. And we continue to expand Visa Consulting and Analytics, which is the payments consulting advisory arm of Visa. This group is a client facing global team of payment consultants, data scientists and economists across 6 continents. Visa Consulting and Analytics delivered 50% more projects this year than the prior year. And this growth is a reflection of how our clients rely on us for As I look ahead, Despite the impact of the pandemic, our business opportunities remain robust and we are as committed as ever to drive growth for our investors.
Very key to driving growth is our employee base, my 20,500 colleagues. In fiscal year 2020, the COVID pandemic had a significant impact on our employees. A large majority of our workforce worked remotely starting in March, And we instituted safety protocols and procedures for the essential colleagues who continue to work at Visa locations. Visa committed that no employee layoffs would occur in calendar year 2020 related directly to COVID-nineteen, and we stayed close to our colleagues We have video town halls, virtual meetings and several pulse surveys. For all of us who work at Visa, our culture is very important.
And our culture is underpinned by our core values, including an unwavering commitment To inclusion and diversity, we see this as a transformational opportunity to be a leader and to drive lasting change. In 2020, we established goals to increase the number of employees from underrepresented groups at the Vice President level and above in the United States by 50% in the next 3 years and to increase the total number of employees from underrepresented groups in the United States by 50% in 5 years. Visa's commitment to diversity recruiting includes partnering with a number of not for profit and community organizations to support and develop a diverse talent pipeline. For example, this past year, we established the Black Scholars and Jobs Program, a And upon graduation, all recipients who have met their commitments will be offered a full time job with Visa. Additionally, Visa is committed to pay equity regardless of gender, race, ethnicity and conducts a paid equity analysis on an annual basis.
We also continue to invest in nurturing and developing our workforce. We are establishing new mentorship and sponsorship programs for current and future Black and African American employees to provide individual career coaching and guidance. And we are also providing everyone at Visa with resources Allyship training to be stronger advocates in the fight for equality and inclusivity. To foster continued dialogue, we launched a monthly series With all of us. We're also working to increase the number of diverse suppliers within our network and press all suppliers to improve their own inclusion and diversity efforts.
As we work hard to make Visa a fair, equitable and Power in place for all our colleagues, we're also taking strides to uplift our communities and businesses that have been affected by the pandemic. And we're very committed to our planet, society and the communities in which we live and work. Early in the pandemic, the Visa Foundation committed $10,000,000 An immediate relief for communities around the world. The Visa Foundation also committed $200,000,000 over 5 years To support small and micro businesses, many of them women owned. We have further committed to digitally enable 50,000,000 small and micro businesses globally by the end of 2023.
We've made great strides in support of environmental sustainability, Including our transition to 100 percent renewable electricity, issuance of our $500,000,000 green bond and many efforts to inspire and empower sustainable commerce in areas such as public transport and Sustainable Travel and Tourism. And we encourage our employees to give back both time and money to support their communities. In fiscal 2020, Visa employees donated $14,000,000 to 4,600 charities And volunteer 28000 hours even during the global pandemic. Those are numbers that make me extremely proud of my colleagues. In closing, I am confident Visa has the right strategy, people and partnerships to weather the storm and work toward a better future.
Our core growth levers of consumer payments, new flows and value added services position us well for long term sustainable growth and can be catalysts for supporting a broader economic recovery. We're embracing a wider purpose Relative to our planet, society and economies around the world, local communities and of course, our shareholders and employees, By living our purpose, Visa can play an even greater role in transforming how the world moves money. I thank you for your continued support. My 20,500 colleagues and I work hard every day to execute our strategy and grow Visa's business Advancing our commitment to making the world a better place for everyone everywhere. I thank you for putting your confidence in Visa.
That completes my formal presentation remarks. We'll now be happy to take questions via phone and online. As a reminder, once you've been recognized, please identify yourself by name and state, whether you're a stockholder and holder And for questions submitted online, Kelly Tullier will read those questions aloud.
Thank you, Al. Our first question is, how does the business plan to grow in the FinTech environment?
That's a very good question. Our network grows and always has by embracing all kinds of partners and FinTechs are increasingly Playing very important roles in money movement and in payments, whether they're issuing credentials or enabling new flows, enabling Broader acceptance or providing some capabilities and services in categories that might include digital wallets, neobanks, Buy now pay later capabilities, B2B payments, cross border, remittances, things like person to person payments And recent, a few recent high profile examples of Fintechs that are partnering with us would be companies like Revolub, Gojek, Afterpay and Venmo. And the FinTechs look at us and realize that we bring assets to the table, Namely our brand, our technology and certainly our global scale and payments expertise. We've also About 24 months ago started something called the Visa Fast Track Program, which allows FinTechs to onboard with Visa With great speed and ease of integration, process that might have taken months before is now happening in weeks. And over the last, I think 18 months or so, we've signed more than 250 FinTech Fast Track deals.
So the program has really Been very effective and in fact in the last 6 months we've doubled the number of players that have come on. So net net, We have always been and continue to be open to business from all relevant Players and FinTechs in particular are playing a very, very vital role in the ecosystem.
Thanks, Al. Our next question is, what is Visa's approach to cryptocurrency payments and funds transfer with Visa's platform and service?
One of the things we've been very consistent about is that anytime anyone is discussing ways to be paid or pay or move money, We want to be in the middle of that conversation and certainly crypto would be no different. And we do see ways that we can add differentiated value relative I should start by saying first though that we think about the crypto market in 2 segments that represent the New assets such as Bitcoin and then digital currencies that are directly backed by existing fiat currencies. We view Bitcoin as more of a store of value where consumers who have Bitcoin are much more interested in holding it and Using it then using it to pay for goods and services. Think of it as more of a commodity or security. In this case, Though we can support consumers who want to use Visa to purchase Bitcoin and perhaps add it to their wallet and then cash out Using a Visa card if they want to be able to then spend some of their the value of their Bitcoin.
For the 2nd category, we view Fiat based digital currencies, including things like stable coins and central bank digital currencies As a real emerging payments innovation and has great potential to be used in global commerce. And we believe we can play a big role in enabling that. So for example, we've already helped 35 different digital crypto wallets around the world Issue Visa credentials so that a consumer can use them at our 70,000,000 plus merchant locations. And we're really just getting started. So the last thing I guess I'd say is it's worth noting that a stable coins or any form of cryptocurrency becomes A real means of exchange.
There really should be no reason why we can't add it to our network. Today, we support over 160 currencies on our network and there's No reason why digital currencies can't be added if they become an appropriate medium of exchange for services and goods.
Great. Thanks, Al. Let's go to some questions that were just submitted online. The first is, when was the last in person board meeting?
The last in person board meeting was this time last year, January 27, 28, 2020 held at our offices in San Francisco. I can certainly Speak on behalf of the Board to say, we clearly miss being with each other and having dinner together between the two days of our meetings. But I can also assure All our stockholders at the meetings that we have had virtually have been extremely robust and we have covered all of the necessary Business of the company extremely well in this virtual setting.
Thanks, Al. Let's go to another question that was just submitted online. Last week, the company announced that the company's political action committee temporarily suspended all political donations as we review our candidate contribution guidelines. Will you go further to consider completely dissolving the pack similar to what the Charles Schwab Corporation is doing?
So certainly on the I think we were one of the very first companies that immediately after the insurrection on the capital and On January 6, we made an immediate decision to temporarily suspend as the questioner so notes, all political donations From our political action committee fund. And but beyond that, I will tell you that we do not have
Great. Thanks, Al. Our next question is, how has Visa responded to COVID-nineteen? Will the vaccine be a catalyst for the stock price over the next year?
Well, clearly COVID has Had an impact on our business, both positive and negative. It certainly has accelerated the shift to Tronic Payments. As people still spend $18,000,000,000,000 on cash and check around the world, people have Increasingly moved, as I talked about in my remarks, to tap to pay, which is a safer, cleaner, a better experience And we've seen widespread adoption of people going to their mobile phone, their computer, Their tablet to buy online around the world has been an incredible amount of people who for the first time ever In the last 9 months have shopped online and that trend has grown and I think that trend will sustain itself. And that's a good trend for Visa because shopping online does not see cash as an option for paying for goods. Therefore, it Really relies on debit and credit cards and that's our power alley and a very, very good thing for us.
Clearly travel has been The most negative impact as many, many countries remain shut down or have Very tough restrictions around travel. It's really a world right now where you really have to get somewhere or feel very strongly about getting somewhere If you are going to travel and clearly we're seeing people being impacted by these restrictions and not traveling. Throughout all of this, I think we've done a good job of demonstrating our flexibility and discipline relative to our expense base, Properly balancing the realities of the short term with the great opportunities the business continues to have in the long term. As to whether they I'm very optimistic about these vaccines and the efficacy of them and what they'll do. But I'm not In possession of a crystal ball that will tell you what the vaccines will do in terms of the stock price.
Thanks, Al. We have time for one more question. As a reminder, we will post answers to a representative set of questions that were not answered today due to time constraints on our IR website as soon as practicable after the meeting. Our final question is, can you discuss Visa's charitable contributions including amounts donated in areas of focus?
Well, we have a mission statement at Visa that we are Coming to work every day to make sure that individuals, businesses and economies around the world thrive. And in all aspects of Our company, we think about that in a day in and day out basis. And so assisting our planet, our societies in general, local communities It's part in my mind of the purpose of this company. It's more than just driving revenue And return, which is obviously extremely important. We are quite philanthropic as a company our age, Only 13 years old and our side, our areas of focus on philanthropic giving tend to be organizations supporting financial inclusion, Financial Literacy, Small and Micro Businesses, which are often more often than not women owned businesses.
And then of course, emergency disaster humanitarian relief is certainly something where We can play a role when those kinds of things happen. We want to be there to help the impacted communities. In fiscal 2020, we made approximately $23,500,000 in charitable contributions to more than 4,000 charities around the globe Through our matching gifts as well as specific business initiatives and local community engagements where we supported The events happening in local communities where our employees and our offices tend to be. In addition, in fiscal 2020, Visa Foundation funded just under $23,000,000 in grants, including $10,000,000 to support COVID relief. As soon as COVID hit back in March of 2020, we made a $10,000,000 commitment to help in Small and medium sized businesses and women led businesses that were immediately impacted by COVID and something we're quite proud of.
So Thank you, Kelly. So that concludes the Q and A portion of the meeting. Want to thank everybody for attending Visa's 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. We greatly appreciate your support. Thank you, everybody.
The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.