VISA (credit card)
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Visa (credit card))
Visa is a
brand of
credit card and
debit card operated by the Visa International
Service Association of
San Francisco, California,
USA, an
economic joint venture of 21,000
financial institutions that issue and market Visa
products. The Visa card was launched in
1976 and the card was derived from the earlier
BankAmericard issued by the
Bank of America.
Corporate structure
Visa offers through its issuing members the
following types of cards:
- pay now (debit)
cards
- pay later (credit)
cards and
- prepaid cards
Visa operates the
PLUS
ATM network and the Interlink
EFTPOS network.
Visa's
corporate structure is regionally de-centralised, which is
unique in the payment scheme industry.
Legally, no entity is called Visa. Rather,
Visa comprises four non-stock, separately incorporated companies
that employ 6000 people worldwide: Visa International Service
Association, Visa U.S.A., Inc. , Visa Canada Association and
Visa Europe Ltd. The separately incorporated regions are group
members of Visa Association, whereas the unincorporated regions
(Visa Latin America [LAC], Visa Asia Pacific and Visa Central
and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa [CEMEA]) are
divisions.
The de-centralised nature of Visa allows it to
respond to member needs and adapt the Visa International rules
and products to suit the individual needs of their regional
members. Regional banks therefore have a strong stake in the
governance of their region.
The Visa International Board has the dual
responsibilities of:
- Oversight of the worldwide interests of
the Association
- Strategic direction and supervision of
the three unincorporated divisions and the central staff of
Visa Worldwide services.
The Visa Association is not a profit- driven
organisation and the four companies that make up Visa issue no
cards and make no loans. Members (about 21,000 worldwide) fund
day to day management and make the investments needed to
maintain and develop the Visa payment system. Fees are levied
according to the following formula:
Operating and Marketing costs
+ Investments in new products, platforms and systems
+ Increase in Reserves
= Members annual fees
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