Visa
Inducted in 2002

It's not often that an organization can hold claim to an outstanding brand without offering a product, but that's exactly what Visa does. The organization, made up of more than 14,000 member financial institutions worldwide, is responsible for brand Visa's image, but the members themselves are the entities that offer the product. And each product can vary because each member is responsible for what the cards look like, what features or rewards they deliver and how much they cost.

What Visa itself offers is a promise to consumers, a commitment that whatever Visa product they carry in their wallets will perform at point-of-sale. Since the Visa blue-white-and-gold band design appears on 22 million doors worldwide, cardholders can use their Visa cards virtually everywhere they go. To the consumer, the brand means guaranteed acceptance; to the 22 million merchants, it means guaranteed payment.

In 1985, consumers perceived no distinction between Visa and its major bank card competitor, MasterCard. In fact, many thought the two cards belonged to the same company, just different ~ "flavors," so to speak. Both were accepted by the same merchants, marketed by banks in the same way and perceived as totally interchangeable. At the same time, American Express was perceived as the image leader even though it was accepted at fewer places.

Since then, Visa has become the category leader by creating a perceptual difference where essentially no functional differences exist. Research indicates that Visa convinced consumers that it is better than the image leader based on greater acceptance and has established a clear and distinct image from MasterCard.

Now, people believe Visa is accepted in more places, both in the U.S. and worldwide, and they perceive Visa as most appropriate for almost every purchase situation. They associate Visa with desirable merchants and events, such as the Olympics and the NFL. When given a choice on a bank card solicitation, the majority of consumers choose Visa.

Visa plays a special and specific role in people's lives. Visa gets them out of the store and on with their lives with a minimum of time and hassle. They never have to worry about having enough cash or the inconvenience of writing checks. Visa takes them to the mall, on their family vacation, to that special dinner, to the Olympics and the Tonys and NASCAR races. Visa is everywhere they go, and everywhere they want to be, and no other payment card comes close to Visa in consumers' minds. From being considered a total parity product in 1985, Visa has evolved to become the undisputed leader of the category.