Electronic Value Exchange: Origins of the VISA Electronic Payment System (History of Computing)


Product Description
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.
p>Electronic Value Exchange: Origins of the VISA Electronic Payment System (History of Computing) Review
I work in the credit card industry, but I was frustrated by the difficulty in getting good information on the industry and how it was established. I bought this book, even though expensive, with the hope that a more academic history might fill in many of the gaps that I have, especially as why we have the incredibly complex set of networks/processors/acquirers/issuers/gateways that characterize the industry.This book far exceeded my best expectation. The writing is very thorough,well documented and very clear. I emphasize the quality of writing because there is so much academic writing that is difficult to read or just plain boring.David Stearns, the author, has done a great service to all those who work in the industry by putting together an overview of the Visa network, and the creation of the credit card industry which is concise, detailed and very interesting.
The author is also quite good at relating the detailed history to the general implications in society;and I enjoyed his closing chapter on The Sociotechnical History of Payment Systems, a wordy chapter title to be sure. But the section entitled "Value Flows According to Mark" explores the history of currency and money as it relates to the visa Mark... All very interesting,and none of it that hard to read and understand.
The only drawback to this book is its high cost. For me, the price was more than justified. I work in the industry and I'm willing to invest in my own knowledge and learning. An academic book by definition is going to have a small audience, and needs to charge more to make it worthwhile. I can give this book my highest recommendation, you won't be disappointed. ---geoff s.
PS I hope that the author will come out with a sequel that will take his history from the 1980s to the current year...and I'm particularly interested in the acquirer side of the industry, which though it is enormous, and though there are enormous corporations who work in that space (a la First Data), there is almost no good history or explanation of where these businesses come from and how they currently function.
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