Visa

overview

• Who or what is Visa?
• Various Visa cards 
• How does an online payment with Visa work? 
• What additional fees are incurred? 
• Where are payments with Visa accepted? 
• Language versions of the Visa websites 
• Security 
• Management 
• Support

Who or what is Visa?

Visa Inc. (VISA, Visa International Service Association) is a payment brand accepted both in daily business and private life as well as for online money transactions, which is accepted as a method of payment by over 24 million trade partners in over 170 countries. Essentially, Visa offers products, systems and services to service banks and financial service providers. However, the enterprise has become noted for the distribution of credit cards.

In the 1970s, the National Bank Americard Inc. was founded by 243 banks in California. The credit card distributed at that time by the name of Americard was renamed as the Visa card in 1976. Since then, Visa Europe has established itself as an independent, incorporated enterprise and a European member organization with headquarters in London.
Since March 2008 Visa Inc. has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Various Visa cards

Visa itself does not issue any cards; instead it distributes them through so-called issuing banks. Fees and limits are variably determined by respective banks. Billing occurs either directly, monthly or with individual credit, for which the bank may charge an interest rate (determined by the bank) on credit for all late payments.

Debit cards (VisaElectron) charge the account of the owner directly; in doing so the customer has the advantage of being able to access their account directly through cash machines.

Card Descriptions:

• Visa Classic – The most widely used Visa card worldwide.

Available in: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

• Visa Gold – High spending limit (typically over $ 5,000 US), including medical and legal referral assistance.

Available in: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

• Visa Platinum – Higher spending limit, personal services, travel insurance and other benefits.

Available in: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

• Visa Infinite – Highest spending limits, personalized rewards and services, by invitation only.
  

Available in: Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

• Visa Mini – A 40x66 mm (1.73x2.60 inches) mini card, designed to be attached on a keychain.

Available in: Australia

• Visa Smart – Integrated chip card, more functionality and security.

Available in: Australia, New Zealand

In the United States, customers may also apply for various rewards cards. Availability depends on location and issuing credit instution.

How does an online payment with Visa work?

For online payments, the credit card number, expiration date and the name of the card holder are entered into the corresponding fields in the payment window. The payment is generally checked immediately by the credit institution and passed on. The payment takes place in real-time.

Payouts to the credit card, for example, in the event of winning a wager at PartyBets, are possible as well, after specifying the required card details. Direct payouts from online businesses to the credit card take place in real time and the money is often available more quickly this way than with bank transfers.

What additional fees are incurred?

Most banks determine the incurred fees individually.

While most US banks allow you to cancel your card free of charge, some European card issuers may charge up to € 40. Additionally, various fees may be incurred when using Visa cards to make cash withdrawals at ATMs.
Nearly all banks require a so-called transaction fee, which typically amounts to about 1% of the transaction amount.

Naturally, when customers are behind on payments, banks will also charge corresponding interest.

Where are payments with Visa accepted?

In cooperation with over 4,600 banks in Europe alone, Visa has succeeded in establishing an American brand of payment with worldwide coverage.

Visa credit cards are available in banks in the following countries:

Andorra, Austria*, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany*, Gibraltar, Great Britain, Greece*, Greenland, Iceland, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy*, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands*, Norway, Poland*, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain*, Sweden*, Switzerland* and Turkey*.

As stated above, Visa cards are available in Australia*, Canada*, New Zealand* and the United States* as well.

Accepted locations are immediately recognizable thanks to the blue and yellow Visa logo.
Also in the world of online gaming, Visa is offered as a method of payment, for example, at PartyBets. Moreover, you can pay for various poker strategy programs with Visa credit cards.

* local websites available

Language versions of the Visa websites

The website is available in the following languages, among others:

Chinese, Dutch, English, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.

Security

In order to enhance security for its customers, Visa introduced Verified by Visa.

Verified by Visa is a password-protected service that verifies the identity of card holders during online transactions. The password, chosen by customers themselves, is equivalent to a signature during an in-store purchase and confirms the correct identity of the buyer for the merchant.

Additionally, in the beginning of 2008 Visa and MasterCard agreed on compliance with the "Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards," which are to be observed by the entire card payment industry.

The set of regulations require, among other things, the installation and maintenance of firewalls and antivirus software and also access limitations of personnel to stored personal data.

Management

Visa is a collective made up of banks and savings and loan associations. Neither Visa Inc. nor Visa Europe Services Inc. is responsible for issuing cards or setting limits.

Visa credit cards are issued by individual banks.

In the United Kingdom, at least 45 banks are licensed to issue Visa cards. Among them are the Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank, Capital One, Halifax, HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland, as well as Wesleyan Savings Bank.

In Ireland, Visa cards may be obtained at the AIB Group, First Active, ICS Building Society, MBNA, and Tesco Personal Finance.

Dozens of banks in Australia and New Zealand issue Visa cards as well, such as the Bank of New Zealand, Bank of Queensland, Citibank, ING Bank, Rabobank and Suncorp-Metway Bank, to name a few.

In Canada, cards are issued by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Chase Canada, Citizens Bank, Home Trust Company, Laurentian Bank, Le Mouvement Desjardins, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust, and Vancouver City Savings Credit Union.

Banks in all US states also issue Visa credit cards. A complete listing of all Visa-licensed banks in your area can be found on the respective local Visa website.

Support

Particular questions or problems with Visa cards should be directed to the card issuing bank. Additionally, a service number is found on the back side of the card and on the monthly bill.

• Card cancellation through the Visa-Emergency service
  (24-hours, 365 days a year):
  
  Australia: 1-800-125-440
  Canada: 1-800-VISA-911 (1-800-847-2911)
  New Zealand: 0800 44 3019
  United Kingdom: 0800 89 1725
  United States: 1-800-VISA-911 (1-800-847-2911)
  Global Customer Assistance: +1 (443) 641-2004

• E-mail:
  Canada: askvisacanada@visa.com
  Europe: enquiries.europe@visa.com
  United States: through card issuing bank

• Service address:
  Visa Europe Services Inc.
  Represented by the Board of Directors
  1 Sheldon Square
  London W2 6TT
  Great Britain
  Tel: +44 (0)20 7937 8111 (Mon to Fri: 9:30am – 5:30pm GMT)
  E-mail: enquiries.europe@visa.com