The world of the Visa Credit Card
The Visa (abbreviated from Visa International Service Association) credit card is the largest electronic payment processing (also credit/debit card issuing) company in the world. It is also the most famous along with MasterCard. It has captured approximately half the share of the United States credit card market.
It is also the major players in the market worldwide. No mean feat considering the competition from the likes of Discover and American Express in recent years has been stiff. MasterCard and Visa though remain well ahead of the chasing pack, despite the followers now offering lower interchange costs and more benefits.
To keep ahead of its’ competitors Visa has been running a lot of promotional activity of late; offering low interest rates, some proportion of cash back offers on purchases, no annual membership fees, special discounts on airline tickets, etc.
Interestingly, Visa the company itself only became Visa Inc. in 2006. Before that, it was a private cooperative, now its stock is traded publicly. Its Initial Public Offering only occurred in 2008. Likewise, the second largest electronic payment processing company worldwide, MasterCard was a membership organization until 2006.
Despite not following the common model of corporate success these companies have become synonymous with modern life. The Visa credit card is pertinent in over a hundred and fifty countries of the world.
Visa cards are used in, and offered by, every major bank, hotel, airline service, educational institutions, charities, major brands and organizations in every corner of the globe.
If plastic money is the harbinger of 21st century life than their company slogan isn’t far off. Life does indeed seem to require a Visa.
Such a universally popular and accepted brand of monetary payment is a necessity for what is commonly referred to as the age of globalization. Imagine a person buying a suit made in Japan with money he made from America that’s being sold in India, and all three places of production, income and expenditure being linked by a common denominator; the Visa card.
Instant payment processing anywhere around the world is the prerequisite for bringing in truly free global markets and reducing the costs of transactions across international boundaries. Visa hasn’t been alone in enabling such a world to exist, but it’s certainly been the pioneer.
Filed under: credit card