The story of the now-ubiquitous Visa credit card range began in September 1958 with the mass-mailed ‘drop’ of 65,000 authorized, working credit cards in Fresno, California. This ‘BankAmeriCard’ was valid at local stores and could be paid back instantly or over months with no approval required. Since then, Visa has spun out from Bank of America and crossed the milestone of one billion cards issued in 2001, in a journey which has fundamentally changed the way people shop, both online and in-person. This is reflected in Visa’s consistent multi-billion annual profits.

The initial launch of the card was not an unqualified success – fraud and high levels of non-payment dogged the early years, contributing to the 1970 decision by Bank of America to hand over control of the program to a consortium of banks. From 1975 Visa offered debit cards, which access the user’s bank account rather than a credit facility. In 1976 the card’s operators and their international partners launched the ‘Visa’ brand as used today.

This global partnership had remained at the heart of the business, and the last quarter of the 20th century saw considerable internationalization; from 1986 Visa offered clearing and settlement in 21 currencies, and by 1997 total payments volume exceeded $1 trillion. Since 2007, Visa has offered contactless payments, and since 2008 payments by mobile. A merger with Visa Europe, previously a separate entity, in 2016 contributed to Visa's leading market position, ahead of global rival Mastercard. The company has over 20,000 employees and is a major sponsor of the Olympic Games.

Visa’s 2008 IPO took place in the midst of the largest recession in US history. Nevertheless, the stock performed strongly, closing at $56.50 from an opening price of $44 on its first day. Though Visa is not a lender or traditional financial institution, the share price suffered during the general sell-off of bank stocks in 2009 before recovering swiftly to begin a rally which has continued almost uninterrupted to the present day. In 2013, Visa was included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the first time. With its strong focus on minimizing costs, worldwide presence, and benefitting from the decline in cash transactions, Visa is a popular holding among institutional investors: Vanguard and Blackrock are the largest individual firms, and Warren Buffet’s investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway has held a major position since 2015.