What is a Visa Credit Card?
Sometimes you’ll see “Visa” written as a name, and other times you see it in all capital letters: “VISA.” The difference is, the all-caps version stands for Visa International Service Association. Either usage refers to the multinational credit card corporation based out of San Francisco. Visa credit cards have the largest electronic retail payment network in the world. Visa manages payments coming from all types of customers: merchants, businesses, governments, financial institutions, and of course, consumers. Visa captured 48% of the debit card market and 44% of the credit card market in the U.S. in 2006.
For those old enough to remember 1970s America, you may remember when Visa was called “BankAmericard.” That card started in 1958, when Bank of America sent out 60,000 unsolicited credit cards – not applications, but actual working credit cards. It was a huge success, at least at first.
Credit cards themselves weren’t all that new, it’s just that Americans tended to have credit accounts with individual retailers. But Visa, backed up by the massive Bank of America strived to be an efficient, unified card that would consolidate a customer’s charges from several merchants into one service. By late 1959, Visa was accepted by 20,000 retailers.
But Bank of America’s top brass had too much faith in the goodness of the American consumer. Nearly one-quarter of the accounts went delinquent, and the new crime of “credit card fraud” gained a foothold. When all the damage, including withering media reports, was totaled, Bank of America lost around $20 million. But by the mid 1960s, much of the mess had been cleaned up and credit cards again became part of the culture. By 1974, a multinational corporation called IBANCO was set up solely to manage the international BankAmericard revolving credit program.
In 1976 BankAmericard changed its name to Visa. The name was chosen because it was easily recognizable in many languages, and because a “visa” is commonly understood to denote gaining entry. Today, Visa offers a wide range of product payment methods. These are used by financial institutions worldwide to offer debit, credit, prepaid, and commercial programs. VisaNet is Visa’s global network, which fights fraud and manages risk. VisaNet also aids in resolution of disputes, and the implementation of rewards programs and other incentives. Visa is accepted in 170 countries worldwide.
There are almost countless styles of credit”>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/borrowing_debt/default.stm””>credit cards you can get from Visa, from simple no-perks, low (relative) interest rate cards to those that offer rewards such as airline miles and cash back. If you get a Visa credit card, you can be assured that it is accepted in more places around the world than any other card.
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Help answer the question about visa credit card
Can i recharge my yahoo voice account with a visa gift card when i have using a credit card before?I have using my Visa credit card but now i have depleted the funds.
October 15th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
epassport is one good option, another one is Green Dot Visa which can be picked up at any CVS or Walgreens
October 15th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
October 15th, 2009 at 11:34 am
This commercial is so typical of today’s society, someone paying in cash? OMG!!
October 16th, 2009 at 2:55 am
Yes you can.
Most Merchants require credit or debit cards to have address verification. Your bank may need to activate your card for internet/phone purchases. You may have tried to order from outside of your home country. Some banks require you to activate the card for international purchases even if ordering on the internet. If you placed a lot of orders you may be over your daily authorization limit. Some merchants charge you an authorization and a purchase which looks like two charges because the merchant does not know how to merge the transaction. The authorization is usually removed in about a week.
To correct some people above
In person US debit card with a Visa or MasterCard symbol can be used two ways at some merchants
Use the Credit button and you usually sign for the purchase.
Use the debit button and you enter your pin at the pos terminal
Online and by phone it can only be used as a Credit Card and you should never give anyone your pin number. All ways come out of your checking account with no delays using a debit card. My experience. You are also protected with debit card purchases. The key is notifying the bank fast.
October 16th, 2009 at 8:10 am
I don't think they can "convert" a store credit card into one of their Visa Credit Card offers. (2 different accounts).
Be careful with these store cards… they are expensive to maintain.
http://creditcardforum.com/store-issued-cards/728-macy-s-credit-card-warning.html
October 16th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
check these links, you might even find a better card but there's plenty of advice throughout if you have time to read:
http://credit-cards.ebookorama.com
http://finance.ebookorama.com
http://credit.ebookorama.com
http://credit-repair.ebookorama.com
good luck!
if it helps please remember me cheers
October 16th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
October 17th, 2009 at 4:39 am
You have a given line of credit on your card, generally about $500 to start.
When you make a purchase, you swipe or give your card to a cashier. This initiates an electronic call to the credit company [Visa] who will then approve or decline the transaction based on your available credit. If approved, you will usually be asked to sign a receipt stating that you will pay the transaction. This receipt is counted into the companies daily revenue and then deposited in the bank where it or an electronic copy of it is sent to the credit company [Visa], similar to how you get a check that you write back after it is cashed. This signature is kept on file in case you don't pay, as it is a legally binding contract.
Once Visa has the signature, they send the payment to the company that you made the charge at [the delay of some companies sending the receipt back to Visa is what causes some things to pend for a few days before posting to your account]. You are then billed on your next statement. If you pay the bill by the due date, you will not pay any interest. If you let a charge stay on your bill for over a month, you begin getting finance charges on it until you pay it. This means that you end up paying more for the object then it was originally worth.
If you continuously pay your bill on time, you will recieve raises to your credit line once or twice a year. If you do not pay your bill on time, you will be fined and have interest charges added to your account.
ADDED: I saw your update that said you get $1000 a month, and wanted to let you know that it does not work as a limit per month. $1000 is your limit overall, meaning if you go over 1000, you will not have ANY credit available until you pay your balance down, and you will continue to get Overbalance charges each month until you do so.
October 17th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
check out http://www.bankrate.com. You can compare Credit card companies and offers on there. Beware of annual fees, vs reward programs and interest rates.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
yes since it will require account number you might want to do this in person at the bank!!!