Overview

Electronic Value Exchange examines in detail the transformation of the VISA electronic payment system from a collection of non-integrated, localized, paper-based bank credit card programs into the cooperative, global, electronic value exchange network it is today.  Topics and features: provides a history of the VISA system from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s; presents a historical narrative based on research gathered from personal documents and interviews with key actors; investigates, for the first time, both the technological and social infrastructures necessary for the VISA system to operate; supplies a detailed case study, highlighting the mutual shaping of technology and social relations, and the influence that earlier information processing practices have on the way firms adopt computers and telecommunications; examines how “gateways” in transactional networks can reinforce or undermine established social boundaries, and reviews the establishment of trust in new payment devices.

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9781849961387

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From the reviews: In this well-written, concise volume Stearns ! details both the technological and organizational challenges that Visa had to overcome in order to link merchants and financial institutions into a seamless worldwide electronic network. ! a valuable contribution to not only the history of technology, but the broader fields of financial, consumer, and business history. ! Among the many strengths of this book is its crystal clear writing style. ! Overall, Electronic Value Exchange will be of interest to a wide variety of scholars. (David L. Mason, EH, February, 2012)

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