Visa runs the largest card payment network by purchase transactions worldwide.
Visa operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and governments. It generally does not issue cards directly or extend most of the credit behind them. Banks and other institutions issue Visa-branded cards, while Visa authorizes and routes transactions through its network.
The company became a publicly traded corporation in 2008 after an initial public offering that was the largest in U.S. history at the time. Its scale and recurring transaction-based revenue helped make it one of the world’s most valuable financial companies by market capitalization.
Visa is often confused with a bank. It is principally a payments-network company, whereas the issuing bank typically manages the customer account and credit risk. Mastercard uses a similar network model, while American Express commonly combines network operation with card issuing and lending.