Visa Cards 
Visa cards are the most popular credit cards in the world. At one time Visa credit cards outnumbered all other types of credit card combined. For many international travelers visa is the only way to go. In 1976 VISA cards were first introduce to replace Bank of America's BankAmericard. In 1979 Visa was the first to implement electronic point of sale terminals. Which allowed for much faster and cheaper transactions? The new card did very well and continues to do so today.
Visa Credit Card Issuers
Today many banks around the world issue visa cards. JPMorgan Chase began issuing cards after it purchased Bank One, Making it the largest issuer of Visa credit cards by far. This global domination is supported by VisaNet, the largest payment processing system in the world. VisaNet handles over 160 currencies making Visa credit cards even more convenient for those travelers who hate exchanging their money before and after each trip. More recently Visa has been adding many security features to its network to continue the fight against credit card fraud. Visa has also been introducing more advance terminals so that businesses can offer their customers the convenience of Visa on their cell phones and PDA's.
Card Types
As with most credit card companies visa offers three types of cards. Credit, Debit and Prepaid. Credit Cards continue to be the most popular, but Debit Cards have been gaining ground since they began offering debit cards with similar rebate and points program that the credit cards have had for years.
Visa Technology
Visa is dedicated to being the fore runner of credit card technology. Visa's Smart cards embed a microchip in the card's plastic. This chip can hold much more information than the typical magnetic strip. The added storage means one card can be used as a credit, debit, or prepaid card and the card can be better encrypted. Another new product is the Mini card. These cards fit on a key chain and are approximately one fourth the size of a regular credit card while being able to perform all of the same functions.
Globalization
Visa is extremely decentralized and is owned by approximately 21,000 financial institutions. This allows the organization to be flexible in each location and cater to the specific areas needs. Visa credit cards carry entering new countries each year. They are making the world a smaller place and eliminating international funds transfer issues altogether.
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