Having over a billion users across the globe, Visa is among the leading electronic-payment card brands. You must have heard of the Visa credit cards, but are you aware of when did Visa International start its operations and how far it has come since then? We have rounded up all the details about Visa credit card history, the available options, and benefits.
Visa International Origin
Visa International is a popular credit card company owned by over 20,000 member banks. The member banks of Visa have the due right to issue Visa Credit Cards under the bank’s name while Visa itself doesn’t issue cards.
Visa International takes its roots back to 1958 when the Bank of America started its first electronic-payment card system titled, BankAmericard. After a decade, the Bank of America sold its first electronic-payment card to a newly established corporation (National BankAmericard, Inc.), which was a combined venture of all the banks that issued BankAmericard. All the member banks held equal ownership in this newly established venture.
National BankAmericard, Inc was led by Dee W. Hock (b. 1929), who was a banker based in Seattle. In the early days of its commencements, National BankAmericard, Inc started expanding its international operations. Till 1976, National BankAmericard, Inc kept operating under different names in different countries. Finally, in the late 70s, the company rebranded it as ‘Visa’.
Over time, the company has evolved adapting the technological advancements and offering an array of credit options. The company received worldwide recognition following its sponsorship in the 1986 Olympics. During the Olympics, Visa was the only company people could use to purchase tickets and merchandise sold at the event. It also was the only company to display its logo during the event. This was the time when the company amassed considerable popularity among the people.
Best Visa Credit Card Options And Their Benefits
Visa offers a variety of options and benefits for every individual. If you are looking for a credit card that best addresses your needs, here are the options available for you with Visa.
1. The Traditional Credit Card
The Traditional Credit Card is used by millions of users and it is popular following its lowest prices. Here are some of the prominent benefits Traditional Credit Cards offers to the users:
- The credit card doesn’t charge the holders any annual fee.
- You don’t have to pay any fee for balance transfers.
- You will be liable to get a 1% cash rebate on your purchases.
- For its qualified members, the traditional credit card offers a 0% introductory rate for initial six months.
- The available credit limit is $1,000 to $15,000
- The digital wallets that it offers will help you make purchases easily through your smartphone.
- The cardholders will get a full month’s grace period on their purchases.
- The rates for balance transfers, cash advances, and balance advances remain the same.
Alongside all the above advantages, traditional credit cards offer a variety of offers on shopping and entertainment. It also backs you in travel and emergency assistance while its security feature protects you against fraudulent activities.
2. The Signature Credit Card
The signature credit card offers middle-level benefits. Although the benefits may vary from one credit issuer to another, the common perks that Signature cardholders can enjoy are as follows:
- The cardholders get extended warranty protection.
- Similar to Traditional credit cards, the Signature credit cards also cover you for travel and emergencies.
- The cardholders will have easy access to the Lost/Stolen Card Reporting service that will help them in emergence replacements and emergency cashouts.
- The cardholder will also be granted a wire cash transfer in times of emergency. It will take a maximum time of 2 hours for the emergency cash disbursement.
- You get maximum coverage of $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per cardholder
The Signature Credit Card provides all the basic benefits that a Traditional tier offers but you might not be able to get benefits as much as you can get with the Infinite credit cards.
3. The Infinite Credit Card
The infinite credit card provides super-premium benefits to the cardholders. This card is designed for the high-net-worth cardholders and provides the level three benefits. It was introduced in the US in 2016; however, it has remained an uncommon option.
Following are the benefits that an Infinite Cardholder can avail:
- Purchase protection against damage and theft.
- The infinite cardholders will also provide return protection.
- You will also get secured against travel accident insurance and the cardholder will also get cancellation and interruption coverage.
- The cardholders can also return their purchased items within 90 days. The infinite card provides a maximum reimbursement of $1,000 per year and up to $300 on each item.
- The card offers a minimum coverage of $10000.
- You can also reap several other rewards by signing up with the card. In the initial days of account opening, if you spend $4000 on purchases, you will get rewards points of 50,000.
- Following the purchase protection feature, the infinite cardholders will be reimbursed for up to $10,000 per occurrence and $50,000 per year.
The infinite credit card provides several other benefits alongside all the above ones. Furthermore, you will get all the benefits of Traditional and Signature level benefits with the infinite credit card.
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The Takeaway
Alongside the Signature, Infinite, and Traditional credit card options, some other credit card options include Gold, Platinum, and Visa classic. You can shop around all these options to find out your best fit.
