Visa is one of the most mentioned companies in the U.S. across all news items in the last 12 hours, according to Factiva data. Along with Mastercard and the big credit-card-issuing banks, Visa agreed Tuesday to lower the credit card swipe fees that merchants pay to accept credit cards, as well as a host of other concessions in a settlement of long-running litigation with the merchants. The settlement also bars Visa, Mastercard and the banks from raising those rates for five years and gives merchants more flexibility at the point-of-sale, the companies said. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva.