Visa · Payment network · 2D explainer animation video

Explainer Animation Video for Visa Direct: Push Payments, Footnoted

Visa needed its Risk and Compliance audience to understand what Visa Direct is, how money moves on it and what it is used for. This explainer animation video answers its own opening question in line art: money crossing a map, a store owner's "$1,550 deposited to your account", and a footnote beside the speed, reach and study figures.

Last updated Oct. 20, 2026

Visa · Visa Direct

Client: Visa
Product: Visa Direct, Visa's push payment network
Made for: The Risk and Compliance community at financial institutions
Format: 2D explainer animation video with on-screen text
Style: Blue and yellow line illustration with custom characters
Length: 2:22
Production timeline: 3 to 4 weeks
Budget: $1,200 to $2,000

The problem: a payment network nobody can see, judged by compliance teams

Visa describes this video as an introduction to Visa Direct, "how it works, what it's used for", made for the Risk and Compliance community. A push payment is invisible: no card, no checkout, just money arriving in an account. There is nothing to point a camera at.

The viewers are also the people paid to doubt claims. A reach figure or a lift percentage with no source reads as marketing to a compliance reviewer. The video had to draw how money moves, show one payment from start to finish, and put the qualifier for each number on the same screen as the number.

How the video answers "What is Visa Direct?", scene by scene

Claims appear as on-screen text, and the speed, reach, use case and study claims carry a footnote in the same frame. Select a time to play that scene above.

Time	On screen	What it does
	"What is Visa Direct?" on a white circle, then a payment arcs across a globe while a calendar turns from "13" to "15".	Asks the viewer's question, then puts time on the table.
	Coins move from an office block to a small shop, past a shield with a check mark. Footnote: "Actual fund availability varies by receiving financial institution, receiving account type, region, and whether transaction is domestic or cross-border."	Shows money moving and qualifies the speed at once.
	A world map of linked cities: "Reach billions of endpoints", "5B+ accounts". Then network icons labeled "ACH" and "RTP", and "Push To Card".	Sizes the network and places it next to rails the viewer knows.
	On yellow, payment arrows rise and each one picks up a red shield with a check mark.	Gives the risk audience its own scene: every transfer is protected.
	A shop counter, then a screen titled "Store": "Total Sales" "$1,550", a cursor clicks "Deposit to Bank", a check mark, "$1,550 deposited to your account".	Walks one real use case from sale to deposit.
	A taxi, 2 drivers after a crash, a man on a sofa with his phone, a woman at an ATM. Footnote: "Use Case Disclosure: Use cases are for illustrative purposes only."	Widens the use cases without promising any of them.
	A globe, then "New revenue opportunities", "Higher debit card usage", "Direct interchange earnings" between 2 bank buildings, and "Up to 14% POS lift" with its study footnote.	Lists what a financial institution on the network gains, with the source.
	The Visa logo on white with yellow corners.	Closes on the brand.

Storyboard: the frames that carry the Visa Direct explainer animation video

Key frames from the finished video, in order. Select a time to play that moment above.

The video opens on the viewer's own question.
Time comes first: the calendar turns as a payment crosses the globe.
The size of the network, in one line and one number.
"Push To Card" comes right after ACH and RTP, rails the viewer already knows.
The risk scene: every payment arrow carries a shield.
One use case, one click: the store owner sends the day's sales to the bank.
The payoff of the use case, in the same figure.
The turn to what a bank gains.
A benefit with its study printed under it.
The one percentage in the video, with its sample size on screen.

4 decisions behind the Visa Direct explainer animation video

Decision 1

Open on the question the viewer has

The first words on screen at 0:03 are "What is Visa Direct?". Every scene after it answers part of that question: how money moves, where it goes, what it is used for, what it earns.

Copy it: Write the one question your viewer would type about your product. Put it on screen first and let the video answer it.

Decision 2

Put the footnote on the same screen as the claim

Speed at 0:12, reach at 0:24, use cases at 1:24 and both study figures at 1:54 and 2:03 each carry their qualifier in the frame, such as "US figure. Visa Direct Debit Impact Study 2019" under "Up to 14% POS lift".

Copy it: If legal or compliance will review your video, list every claim and its qualifier before the script. Design a footnote line into the layout instead of adding it at the end.

Decision 3

Follow one payment from sale to deposit

From 1:03 a screen titled "Store" opens, at 1:12 it shows "Total Sales" "$1,550", a cursor clicks "Deposit to Bank" at 1:15, and "$1,550 deposited to your account" lands at 1:21. The same figure at both ends makes the transfer easy to follow.

Copy it: Pick one customer and one amount. Show the click and the result with the same number.

Decision 4

Close on what the bank gains

From 1:51 the video switches from users to the institution: "New revenue opportunities", "Higher debit card usage", "Direct interchange earnings", "Up to 14% POS lift".

Copy it: End on the gain for the person who signs the contract, not only the person who uses the product.

From Visa Direct's 2 questions to a footnoted line-art video

Script on 2 questions. The script followed the 2 questions in Visa's YouTube description: how Visa Direct works, and what it is used for, ending on the gains for financial institutions.
Claims and footnotes. Each figure and use case was paired with its qualifier so the footnote could sit in the same frame as the claim.
Line-art style. A blue and yellow line style was set so maps, network rails, shields and bank buildings read as one system.
Characters and backgrounds. Custom characters were drawn for the store, the taxi, the roadside crash, the sofa and the ATM, with city, shop and world map backgrounds.
Motion graphics. Payment arcs, coin transfers, rising arrows with shields and the store screen click were animated, with transitions linking each scene.
Render and finish. Scenes were rendered and composited, then color corrected, with sound engineering last.

Scope of work:

Custom character design
Detailed background illustration
Animated visual elements
Complex motion graphics
Scene transitions
Final rendering
Compositing
Sound engineering
Color correction

Production took 3 to 4 weeks on a budget of $1,200 to $2,000. See the 2D video production service for how a project like this is scoped.

Questions about the Visa Direct explainer animation video

Why does the Visa Direct video open with "What is Visa Direct?"

It is the question the viewer arrives with. The title appears at 0:03, and every scene after it answers one part: how money moves (0:06), how far it reaches (0:21), how it is protected (0:39) and what it is used for (0:51).

How does the video handle compliance footnotes?

Each claim carries its qualifier in the same frame. At 0:12 "Actual fund availability varies by receiving financial institution", at 1:24 "Use cases are for illustrative purposes only", and at 2:03 the study behind "Up to 14% POS lift", "n = 1.3m US accounts".

Which use case does the Visa Direct video show in full?

A store owner. From 1:03 a screen titled "Store" opens, at 1:12 it shows "Total Sales" "$1,550", the owner clicks "Deposit to Bank" and at 1:21 the screen reads "$1,550 deposited to your account".

How does the video show where Visa Direct fits among other payment rails?

At 0:27 2 network icons are labeled "ACH" and "RTP", then the scene moves to "Push To Card" at 0:36. The new rail is named next to rails a payments viewer already knows.

What do the benefits at the end of the video cover?

4 gains, from 1:51: "New revenue opportunities", "Higher debit card usage", "Direct interchange earnings" and "Up to 14% POS lift". The debit usage and POS lift lines each name the Visa Direct Debit Impact Study 2019 on screen.

What did the Visa Direct explainer animation video take to make?

Custom characters, illustrated backgrounds, motion graphics, rendering, compositing, color correction and sound engineering. Production took 3 to 4 weeks on a budget of $1,200 to $2,000.

What Advids clients say

"ADVIDS produced several videos over the years for us. They are very responsive and communicative during the entire video production process."Christopher Chae, Founder at Nine Dot Connects LLC