Visa had the largest IPO by a US company when it raised about US$19.65 billion in 2008.
Visa began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on March 19, 2008. The offering sold shares at US$44 each and raised approximately US$17.9 billion before the underwriters exercised their overallotment option, bringing the total to about US$19.65 billion.
The debut was significant because Visa was already a huge global payments network, but it had not previously been a fully public company in its modern form. Its member financial institutions had owned the organization through earlier structures, including BankAmericard and Visa USA.
Visa’s IPO record was later overtaken by larger offerings from companies outside the United States, including Alibaba and Saudi Aramco. Visa is a payment-network company rather than a bank: it generally processes transactions and provides network services, while card-issuing banks extend credit or hold customer accounts.