Visa® Credit Cards
The #1 credit card used by people around the world, Visa® credit cards offer exceptional convenience and reliability. Whether you use Visa® Classic, Visa® Gold, or other premium credit cards, Visa® has unsurpassed acceptance in 160 countries, as well as at Internet merchants. And with a Visa® credit card, you can get cash at more than 950,000 ATMs in the Visa® Global Credit Card ATM Network. It's a secure, reliable way to pay for anything you need, anywhere in the world.

These days, you need a payment card for everything from renting a car to buying textbooks and airline tickets online. Choose the Visa® Credit card for convenience, reliability, and worldwide acceptance. More people hold Visa® credit cards than any other credit card, making it the most popular payment credit card in the world. And Visa® is instantly recognized and accepted by merchants all over the world, including the Internet. Apply here for a Visa® Credit Card – Get a decision fast. You can compare and apply for more Visa® Credit Cards in our specific bank categories on the left menu. FYI: Chase® is the largest issuer of Visa® Credit Cards and offers Classic, Gold and Platinum Visa® Cards.

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Everything You Want To Know About Visa Credit Cards
VISA is a brand of credit card operated by the VISA International Service Association of San Francisco, California, USA owned by 21,000 financial institutions that issues and markets its own Visa products.

The VISA card was launched in 1976, and the card was derived from the earlier BankAmericard issued by Bank of America. Internationally, BankAmericard was known by other names prior to the introduction of the VISA brand for the network. The blue-white-gold motif used by BankAmericard was also used for these cards. In the United Kingdom, it was known as the BarclayCard, issued by Barclay's Bank. In Canada, an alliance of banks (including Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Royal Bank of Canada, and Bank of Nova Scotia) issued credit cards under the Chargex name. In France, it was known as Carte Bleue (Blue Card). Logo: The blue and gold in VISA's logo were originally chosen to represent the blue sky and golden-colored hills of California, where Bank of America was founded.

Visa Issuers: J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. is the world's largest issuer of the Visa card, before that Bank One was the largest issuer. Visa is "the way the world pays." As new forms of technology and communication bridge distances between communities, commerce has become both more global and more local. As the world's leading payment solutions organization, Visa is committed to ensuring secure, reliable payments that provide both buyers and sellers with more choice, convenience and control. Jointly owned by 21,000 member financial institutions around the globe, Visa is a private, for profit association dedicated to serving its members, cardholders and merchants. Through its member financial institutions, Visa offers the world's most established and widely accepted payment solutions for both consumers and businesses.

The reach and popularity of Visa-branded cards is almost universal - there are more than one billion cards, with unsurpassed acceptance in more than 150 countries. In 2003, nearly three trillion (USD) in goods and services were purchased using Visa products. Visa's history traces back to 1958, when Bank of America launched its blue, white and gold BankAmericard. The name Visa was introduced in 1976 and since then has grown into the premier payment brand. While much has changed in the last three decades, consumers, businesses and merchants around the world still identify the Visa brand with acceptance, convenience, flexibility and security. Today, Visa continues its tradition of innovation with its vision of universal commerce, or "u-commerce." U-commerce envisions a world in which buyers and sellers can conduct commerce securely and conveniently... anywhere, anytime, any way they like. Whether in the real or virtual marketplace, people around the world will enjoy new levels of convenience, safety and flexibility.

Visa International is comprised of six regional operating organizations: Asia-Pacific; Canada; Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEMEA); European Union; Latin America & Caribbean; and the United States.

As the world leader in electronic payments, Visa is committed to ensuring secure, reliable payments that provide both buyers and sellers with choice, convenience, and control.

Visa is a private, membership association jointly owned by 21,000 member financial institutions around the world. The organization is dedicated to serving those members, their cardholders, and their merchant clients by facilitating payment anywhere, anytime, and any way.

With more than one billion cards in circulation, and with unsurpassed acceptance in more than 150 countries, the reach and popularity of Visa-branded cards is nearly universal.

Visa's vision for the future of payments is a world in which buyers and sellers can conduct commerce anywhere, anytime, and any way they choose.

This might be in a shop or over the phone--it could be with the phone itself. It might involve using a Visa smart card or a handheld device. It could be carried out while sitting on a couch watching TV or sitting on a train during the commute to work.

This vision of universal or ubiquitous commerce represents the convergence of the physical and the digital; traditional brick-and-mortar commerce joining with Web-based, wireless, and other next-generation technologies to create new levels of convenience and value.

Visa is the world's leading electronic payment brand. We play a pivotal role in developing innovative payment products and technologies to benefit 21,000 member financial institutions, their cardholders, and merchants. There are more than one billion Visa cards in circulation, which are accepted at more than 20 million merchant locations in 150 countries throughout the world, generating more than US$3 trillion in annual card sales volume.

A wide spectrum of products and services enable consumers and businesses to buy and sell goods easily, conveniently, and securely. These products include credit, debit, and prepaid payment solutions, as well as programs and initiatives designed specifically for commercial and governmental enterprises. We also develop common standards and specifications to facilitate commerce and provide member financial institutions with global payment platform development, 24/7 operation of the world's largest and most sophisticated payment processing system, and management of the Visa brand.

"Visa." The name itself evokes a singular, powerful meaning in the minds of consumers the world over.

But the Visa brand is much more than the name and logo. The Visa brand is the promise we make to customers. The actions of customers are what matter most, after all, and those actions are shaped by more than just graphics and advertising: they are shaped by how well we deliver on the Visa promise.

When people think of Visa, they feel a sense of empowerment that comes from knowing that what they do is backed by the strength and reliability of one of the world's most trusted institutions. The Visa brand--unequalled for its acceptance, convenience, and reliability--is valued by consumers precisely because of what it means in their lives. With Visa, they have an ability to make things happen: conveniently, safely, and in the way they want.

To all of this, add member financial institutions' own brands, financial product features, and the insights they bring to their local customer relationships, and the result is a compelling whole that is even stronger than the sum of its parts.

Across products and services, and technologies and markets, this Visa brand--this bond that Visa builds with customers--is the most important of all Visa assets.

The definition of a brand is the sum total of the consumer experience that goes along with it: everything a company says, everything it does, and how it says and does it. What is the value of the Visa brand--to Members, partners, and consumers?

Visa guages it's value by considering how much more users are likely to choose, activate, and use Visa-branded products and services. Not only do more people choose Visa as their primary card, but the Visa brand translates to more transactions overall compared to closest competitors.

Other considerations contribute to the impact of the Visa brand. The value of our sponsorships and partnerships, for example, play a large role. The International Olympic Committee and The Walt Disney Company are just two of the world's premier organizations with whom Visa has partnered. Our brand complements their strong consumer appeal, leadership stature, and global presence.

It all adds up to a sense of genuine empowerment; of enabling people to believe that with Visa, they can truly make anything happen.

Through our partnerships, alliances, and sponsorships, Visa connects to people, events, and companies worldwide.

Our global partnerships with some of the world's leading travel, shopping, e-commerce, and entertainment companies help consumers and businesses get more out of their Visa solutions.

Disney
The Walt Disney Company global partnership provides Visa with the ability to create exclusive card promotions with Disney's theme parks and resorts in the United States and Europe, the Disney Stores, Walt Disney Studios, and Disney stage productions.

Global Giving
In an entirely different arena, Visa is the preferred payment brand for the GlobalGiving Alliance--a worldwide, web-based philanthropic exchange that provides a virtual marketplace for projects and donors. Visa supplies resources and co-promotion of the partnership, helping to optimize the collection of donations, and refining best practices for the security and privacy of donor financial information. Our expertise will enable GlobalGiving to obtain funds to distribute to social entrepreneurs in an effective and timely manner.

FINCA
Visa has established a partnership with the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), a non-profit organization that provides loans, savings programs, and technical support to promote self-sufficiency in some of the poorest communities in the world. FINCA will utilize the two companies' combined expertise to expand and enable the increased efficiency of microfinance, allowing low-income entrepreneurs to manage funds more safely and flexibly. FINCA and Visa will share the results of their experiences in this initiative with other organizations around the world that are working to bring microfinancing to the two billion people most in need of new opportunities.

Strategic Alliances and Investments
To stay current with the latest developments in emerging technologies, Visa also enters into global strategic alliances and investments with key emerging technology companies. These selected companies work in partnership with Visa to build the next generation of global commerce and payments infrastructure. Together, Visa and its global strategic alliance and investment partners are defining and developing the future of electronic payments, including the standards, security, systems, and simplicity to meet the needs of Visa member financial institutions, merchants, and cardholders worldwide.

Visa sponsors and forms marketing relationships with organizations that share our commitment to creating value and service. Such relationships help communicate values that are synonymous with the Visa brand. The most prominent of these associations is with the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is perhaps the most visible example of a movement that, like Visa itself, believes in the ideals of inclusion, fair play, and excellence. As a worldwide Olympic partner, Visa is the Exclusive Payment Card and the Official Payment Service of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games--the only card accepted at all Olympic Games venues for any official Olympic-related transactions. Visa has been the Official Payment Service of the last nine Olympic Games: Calgary, Seoul, Albertville, Barcelona, Lillehammer, Atlanta, Nagano, Sydney, and Salt Lake City.

Visa's corporate commitments to the Olympic Movement, National Olympic Committees, and national teams have been an important factor in ensuring the continuance and success of the Olympic Games. Since 1986, it is estimated that Visa's corporate sponsorship of the world's premier sporting and cultural event has provided millions of dollars(US) worldwide in direct support to Olympic athletes. This is done through their Olympic organizations, as well as with support through a variety of initiatives that include our Team Visa and Gold Medal Athlete programs and the Visa Olympians Reunion Centre. In addition, Visa sponsors the Visa Olympics of the Imagination, an international art program created for children ages 9-13 to learn about the Olympic movement and win a chance to attend the Olympic Games. Going forward, Visa has made commitments to continue its sponsorship through future Olympic Games in Turin, 2006, Beijing, 2008, Vancouver, 2010, and whichever city is selected for the 2012 Games.

The Paralympic Games
Visa is proud to be the leading global Sponsor of the Paralympic Games. We are also the Official Payment Service and only card accepted at the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games. Sponsorship of the Paralympic Games is a very important extension of Visa's Olympic commitment. Visa has been a supporter of a number of Paralympic sports federations since the 1996 Paralympic Games and a two-time sponsor of the Paralympic Congress. Athens will mark the first Paralympic Summer Games that Visa has sponsored.

Visa's involvement through technology, expertise, products, and personnel is fundamental to the staging of the Paralympic Games. Through this sponsorship, Visa looks to use its widely known and respected brand to help deliver the messages of the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games--pursuit, strength, inspiration and celebration--as well as bring the achievements of Paralympic athletes to a worldwide audience.

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