Visa conducted its initial public offering in 2008.
Visa began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2008. The offering raised about $17.9 billion, making it the largest initial public offering in the United States at that time when measured by funds raised.
Visa operates a global electronic-payments network, connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and governments. It generally does not issue cards or extend most of the credit on Visa-branded cards; banks and other financial institutions usually perform those roles.
That distinction is a common source of confusion. Visa and Mastercard are payment networks, while card issuers such as banks manage customer accounts. Visa’s IPO followed the restructuring of Visa’s former member-owned association into a public company.