What It Does: Visa offers vital financial services, including payables automation, payment products, payment processing, business reporting, and financial analytics, and offers debit, credit, and prepaid cards through its issuing channels.
Mission: Visa’s mission statement is to uplift people everywhere by being the best platform to send and receive payments.
Size and Presence: Visa has a modest presence in Nigeria, with a few employees in its Lagos office, which is in Ikoyi.
Best Known For: Visa has been lauded severally for its excellent financial services. In 2016, The Brand Journalist Association of Nigeria named Visa the Best Card Payment Scheme in Nigeria. This company is one of the most valuable financial services companies in the world.
The Good Bits: Visa’s working environment embodies diversity and inclusion. The work-life balance is great. The company pays well and also offers its employees good perks and incentives.
The Not-So-Good Bits: The working environment may be too fast-paced for some employees. Career growth is slow.
The origin of Visa’s existence goes back to Bank of America’s launch of its credit card programme, BankAmericard. Initially, this programme was riddled with several problems, which resulted in a huge loss for the company until 1961, when BankAmericard yielded profits. At first, BOA kept the new-found success of its card programme a secret in a bid to repel rivalry. However, in 1966, the success of its BankAmericard programme was too huge to conceal. Several years later, several banks started issuing BankAmericard, and this created a system across the US. In the late 60s, BankAmericard went international and was given local names in the countries it established a presence in.
In 1976, all these brand names were unified under a single brand, "visa.” In 2006, Visa Inc was created from a merger among Visa International, Visa Canada, and Visa USA. It also had its IPO and became a publicly traded company that same year. In 2007, BankAmericard was renamed Bankmericard Rewards Visa. In 2021, Visa agreed to a partnership with First Boulevard that would enable its customers to transact with digital assets. During Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Visa halted all its operations in Russia.
One peculiar feature or trait that distinguishes Visa from other companies is its diversity and inclusion policy. Visa’s employee pool is so diverse that it encompasses differences in perspectives, skin colour, nationality, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, gender, physical ability, age, socioeconomic background, previous employment experience, and expertise. Visa is more than a company; it's a community where every member feels a sense of belonging. The company respects its employees and encourages a collaborative workflow and meaningful relationships outside the home. The firm is employee-centric. It has a great welfare program that ensures that all its employees are well taken care of. Freshers and interns feel at home because they find themselves in a warm and welcoming working atmosphere. The dress code (depending on the employee) is business professional or semi-formal wear.
As a top employer in its industry, Visa ensures its employees are high-quality and well-grounded in their areas of expertise. Though this company has not clearly defined career development programme, it usually organises training sessions from time to time to upskill its employees. The freshers and interns at the firm learn through their hands-on working experience with team members, most of which are more experienced than them. Visa seeks ambitious, young, and driven young talents who want to make a difference in the organisation.
The entire hiring process takes about two weeks. Visa screens its applications via a phone interview which is followed by an interview with HR. The coding test comes next, followed by a final interview. After the interviews, Visa offers the job to successful candidates.
An entry-level employee working at Visa will earn an average salary of NGN 3 million yearly.
Visa’s perks and incentives include a savings plan, health insurance, sick leave, parental leave, life insurance, etc.
Visa is committed to enhancing financial inclusion in Nigeria. Through the Visa Foundation, the firm donates to several charities in the country. Visa is also committed to achieving carbon neutrality through its operations