Visa spends billions a year on outside vendors: technology, professional services, marketing, facilities, print, events, staffing. If you sell any of that, Visa is a buyer worth chasing. The catch is that you can't walk up and apply. Visa registers suppliers through SAP Ariba, and the registration questionnaire only opens after someone inside Visa invites you.
So the real question isn't "where's the application." It's "how do I get invited, and what does Visa want to see when I am." This guide covers both, with the diversity certification piece called out, because Visa asks about it directly during registration.
Visa runs a Supplier Inclusion Program, not a "diversity" portalVisa's program for small and diverse vendors is the Supplier Inclusion Program, with a component called the Second-Tier Initiative. The naming matters. Like a lot of large companies through 2025 and into 2026, Visa leans on the word "inclusion" rather than "diversity," and its public materials put heavy weight on small and micro-sized businesses (SMBs) alongside diverse ownership. If you go looking for a "Visa supplier diversity program" page by that exact name, you'll land on the Supplier Inclusion page instead. Same idea, current label.
Two things sit inside that program:
Direct (Tier 1) inclusion. Visa buying from you, a small or diverse business, as a direct supplier.
The Second-Tier Initiative. Visa encourages its large prime suppliers to establish relationships with, and commit a percentage of their spend to, diverse and small businesses, then report that spend back. If you can't win Visa's business directly yet, becoming a subcontractor to one of Visa's existing primes is a legitimate side door. Primes get measured on this, which means they have a reason to find you.
Visa points small businesses to its Visa Small Business Hub for resources and funding connections, and the program's listed contact is Globalresponsiblesourcing@visa.com.
How Visa actually registers suppliers: Ariba, by invitationHere's the part most "how to sell to Visa" advice skips. Visa onboards vendors through the Ariba Business Network (SAP Business Network), and the process is invitation-driven. You don't self-register out of the blue.
The sequence works like this:
- A Visa buyer or data-maintenance approver sends you an invitation email. That email is the trigger. Without it, there's no questionnaire to fill out.
- You create or log into an Ariba account. The invite has a "click here" link to create a new SAP Business Network account, or you sign in with an existing one. A lot of suppliers already have an Ariba account from selling to other large companies; reuse it.
- You open the Supplier Registration Questionnaire under Ariba Proposals and Questionnaires. Visa's version runs six sections.
- You complete and submit. The questionnaire link is time-limited (plan on roughly a week from the invitation), so don't sit on it. If it expires, your Visa contact has to resend it.
The six sections cover general information, a legal/compliance question tied to Visa's Supplier Code of Conduct, additional information, tax information, diversity information, and bank account details for payment. Visa also layers on requirements most enterprise buyers do: its Supplier Code of Conduct, an anti-bribery policy, supplier security standards, insurance minimums, and a data processing agreement where personal data is involved. Have those ready to agree to.
The diversity section, line by lineThis is where certification pays off. Visa's registration questionnaire has a dedicated Diversity Information section, and the fields expand based on your answers. Based on Visa's own supplier registration instructions, you'll see questions like:
- Are you a diverse supplier? (Yes/No)
- What is your diversity classification? (your ownership category)
- Are you certified? with an upload field for your certification, and a place to explain if you're not certified
- Do you track Second-Tier diverse supplier spend and provide quarterly reporting? (relevant if you're a larger supplier who in turn buys from diverse businesses)
- Region-specific items, including MSME certification, which mainly applies in markets like India
Read that list again and notice what it means in practice. Visa asks you to upload your certificate. A self-declared "we're minority-owned" answer with no document behind it is weaker than an answer backed by a third-party certification you can attach right there in the form.
Which certifications carry weightVisa's public Supplier Inclusion Requirements document stays general. It commits to equal-opportunity practices and to engaging small and micro-sized businesses, and it does not publicly hard-code a list of required certifying bodies. But the questionnaire's "Are you certified? Upload certification" field is the tell: Visa wants a recognized third-party credential, and for U.S. suppliers the credentials enterprise procurement teams accept are the standard ones:
- Minority-owned: certification through the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) and its regional affiliates (the MBE certification)
- Women-owned: WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council), or the SBA's WOSB program
- LGBT-owned: the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
- Disability-owned: Disability:IN
- Veteran-owned: NaVOBA (National Veteran Business Development Council), or SDVOSB status
- Small business / HUBZone: SBA designations
You don't need all of them. You need the one that matches how your business is owned, in hand and uploadable, before the invitation arrives. Certification timelines run weeks to months depending on the body, so this is the thing to start before you ever talk to a Visa buyer. If you're certified through multiple bodies, list every category that applies.
Not sure which certification fits your ownership, or staring down filing the same documents to NMSDC, WBENC, and the SBA separately? CertifyAll captures your business details once and handles the filings across the bodies that apply, so you're not assembling the same packet five times.
How to actually get the invitationSince registration is invitation-only, your job before registration is visibility. A few moves that work:
Get listed where Visa's buyers look. Corporate procurement teams source diverse suppliers through certification directories (NMSDC's and WBENC's databases) and through aggregators. Make sure your certified profile is complete and current in those, and in our public supplier directory so buyers searching by category and NAICS can find you.
Target Visa's primes, not just Visa. The Second-Tier Initiative exists because Visa's large suppliers are on the hook to spend with diverse businesses. Find out who holds Visa contracts in your category and pitch them as a subcontractor. That's often a faster first win than landing Visa direct, and it puts you inside Visa's supply chain with a reference attached.
Lead with a tight capability statement. When you reach Visa's responsible-sourcing team at Globalresponsiblesourcing@visa.com or meet a buyer at an NMSDC or WBENC event, you have one shot. Show the specific category you serve, proof you've delivered at scale, your certifications, and a clear price-to-value story. Vague generalists get filed; specific specialists get invited.
Show up where Visa shows up. Visa participates in supplier-diversity conferences and matchmaking. Those rooms are where invitations start, because a buyer met you and decided to open the door.
What to do this weekThe path to becoming a Visa supplier isn't a form you submit. It's a credential you hold (certification, uploadable), a profile buyers can find, and a relationship that produces an Ariba invitation.
Start with the certification, because it gates everything downstream and takes the longest. Then get your profile and capability statement sharp. Then work the rooms and the primes until an invitation lands. For the bigger picture on breaking into corporate procurement, read our guide on how to get into corporate supplier diversity programs.
Visa is one of dozens of large corporate buyers running an inclusion program with a real budget behind it. See which others match what you sell, and how each one takes suppliers, in our corporate program directory.
