The Visa International Service Association of San Francisco, California, USA, commonly called VISA, is an economic joint venture of 21,000 financial institutions that issue and market Visa products including credit and debit cards.

In 1958, the Bank of America launched its pioneering BankAmericard credit card program in Fresno, California. The product idea was that of a bank branch manager, who stopped by a local store and observed clerks in a back room preparing customers' monthly bills. It struck him as inefficient to spend so much time (and money) to prepare and collect bills that were often for paltry amounts, and he wondered if the process could be efficiently centralized, with his bank's computer preparing the bills in off-hours. The original goal of the company was to offer the system across California; however in 1965 the bank began subscribing licensing agreements with a group of banks outside of California. Over the following 11 years, various banks licensed the card system from Bank of America, forming a network of banks backing the BankAmericard system across the United States.
The Chargex logo used in Canada, along with the names of the 5 Canadian federal banks that issued Chargex cards.
The Chargex logo used in Canada, along with the names of the 5 Canadian federal banks that issued Chargex cards.

During this same time period, licences for the BankAmericard system also started to be implemented in other countries.