Visa Credit Cards

Visa credit cards come from Visa International, a credit card and payment system company headquartered in Foster City, near San Francisco, California. It's the world's largest consumer payment company with more than a billion cards issued. Over 21,000 financial institutions own Visa.

Visa began in 1958 when Bank of America offered it. Up until then, charge cards as opposed to credit cards were offered. While charge cards required you to pay everything in full monthly, the Visa credit cards allowed cardholders to pay the balance in increments with interest over longer time periods. In 1996, Visa was involved in over half the credit card transactions..

A new development in Visa credit cards is the key chain credit card. Minicards which are smaller credit cards are being used all over the world. Visa's minicard comes from Bank of America Corporation. Over thirteen million Visa minicards were issued their first year.

The minicards are in places such as Hong Kong and Mexico, and they're best for small purchases in supermarkets and stores where cash is used most. Surveys show that the 18 to 39 age group expressed the most interest in the minicards. These cards are small enough to attach to key chains for easy access.

Visa credit cards have made way for Visa debit cards. These are ideal for college student. With the debit card, the money is taken out of an account. PocketCard sets up the account which is connected to the debit card. Once the account is empty, purchases are blocked. This card lets the college student's parents see what the purchases are.

Money can be deposited into the account by phone or the Internet from another account. PocketCard sends statements; the statements can be on the Internet or emailed. Visa offers credit cards, debit cards, and a variety of financial products.