Visa operates the VisaNet network and went public in 2008.
VisaNet is Visa’s global electronic-payment processing network. It authorizes, clears, and settles transactions, while banks generally issue Visa cards and merchants’ banks generally accept the payments. Visa typically does not lend money to cardholders in the way a card-issuing bank does.
Visa’s initial public offering took place in March 2008 and raised roughly $17.9 billion, making it one of the largest IPOs in the United States at that time. The company had previously operated through a cooperative structure involving member financial institutions.
Visa and Mastercard are both payment networks, but they are separate companies. American Express and Discover combine network operations with more direct involvement in issuing cards, so their business models are not identical to Visa’s.