Visa is the payments company among the world's largest by market cap that began as BankAmericard in 1958.
Bank of America launched BankAmericard in California as an early general-purpose credit-card program. The system allowed customers to borrow for purchases and repay balances later, while participating merchants accepted the card through an expanding network.
The program eventually became international and was reorganized under the name Visa. Visa Inc. was created as a separate public company in 2007, and its initial public offering took place in 2008.
Visa generally operates a payment network rather than lending directly to cardholders. Banks and other financial institutions issue Visa-branded cards, while Visa helps authorize, clear, and settle transactions. Mastercard follows a similar network model, but it did not begin as BankAmericard.