Visa Payment Services

Visa is a global payment technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world. It does not issue cards itself; instead, it provides financial institutions with Visa-branded payment products (credit, debit, and prepaid cards) which they then offer to their customers.

Originally launched in September 1958 by Bank of America as the 'BankAmericard' program in Fresno, California, it was the first all-purpose revolving credit card. To compete with other bank systems, Bank of America began licensing the program to other banks in 1966. In 1970, control was transferred to a cooperative of member banks called National BankAmericard Inc. (NBI), led by Dee Hock. The network was rebranded as 'Visa' in 1976 to create a name that was universally recognizable and not tied to a specific bank.

Today, Visa Inc. is a publicly-traded multinational corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. While the brand is American, the physical cards are manufactured by various third-party security printing companies (such as Thales, IDEMIA, or CPI Card Group) in facilities located globally, including the United States, Europe, and Asia, depending on the requirements of the local issuing bank.