VISA : The Power of an Idea

Visa: The Power of an Idea opens in California with the amazing life and business philosophy of A.P. Giannini the founder of the Bank of America. Giannini the son of humble immigrants from Italy built his bank by devoting himself to one noble cause: giving financial power to the common man. That cause was later embodied in the BankAmericard the forerunner to todays Visa card. A brilliant visionary named Dee Hock then followed in Gianninis footsteps and turned the BankAmericard into the powerful partnership that Visa is today. With grit clarity and a remarkable power of persuasion Hock built Visa into a vast global family that today draws together 22 000 banks and financial institutions from nearly every corner of the globe. As you are about to discover the story of Visa leads into some surprising realms: the inner corridors of Olympic politics and big-money sports sponsorship. The high-stakes marketing and advertising wars with American Express and MasterCard. And the nerve centers of the powerful technology that drives Visa and the e-commerce revolution. The story also leads to crime fighters in Asia where Visa helps lead the worldwide effort to combat credit card fraud counterfeiting and Internet mischief. As this book makes clear the Visa card is not just an instrument of individual empowerment: it is also a tool of national empowerment. In countries as diverse as Japan Venezuela Poland and Taiwan the Visa partnership has helped stimulate dramatic economic growth and social change. There are now more than one billion Visa cards in circulation and most of us tend to see it as only a convenient payment tool. Through this book however we see that the Visa card is far more than that. Its a global revolution right in our pocket.