Electronic Value Exchange
Origins of the VISA Electronic Payment System
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Springer London Ltd
Published:7th Jan '11
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£149.99(9781447126232)
This book explores the evolution of the VISA electronic payment system, detailing its transformation into a global electronic value exchange network. Electronic Value Exchange offers a comprehensive historical analysis.
The book Electronic Value Exchange delves into the evolution of the VISA electronic payment system, illustrating its transition from a fragmented collection of localized, paper-based bank credit card programs to a cohesive, global electronic value exchange network. This transformation is explored in depth, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of how VISA became a cornerstone of modern financial transactions.
In Electronic Value Exchange, the author offers a historical narrative that spans from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, drawing on extensive research, personal documents, and interviews with pivotal figures in the development of the VISA system. This rich historical context not only highlights the technological advancements that facilitated this change but also emphasizes the social infrastructures that were critical for the system's operation.
Moreover, the book presents a detailed case study that illustrates the interplay between technology and social relations. It examines how previous information processing practices influenced firms' adoption of computers and telecommunications. The author also investigates the role of “gateways” in transactional networks, discussing how they can either reinforce or challenge existing social boundaries, and reviews the establishment of trust in emerging payment devices. Through this multifaceted exploration, Electronic Value Exchange provides valuable insights into the complexities of electronic payment systems.
From the reviews:
“David L. Stearns argues in Electronic Value Exchange: Origins of the Visa Electronic Payment System that the job of a historian of technology is to make invisible technologies visible again. Certainly, he has achieved this goal. … Stearns’ Electronic Value Exchange is a much-needed contribution to the literature.” (Joline Zepcevski, Enterprise and Society, Vol. 13 (2), June, 2012)
“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)
“Stearns offers a fascinating narrative that navigates somewhere between the sociology of finance, social studies of technology, retail banking and business history. … There is an alphabetic index and most references appear as footnotes. … There is also a list of interviewees and a helpful list of acronyms. … The style is open and quite engaging, the discussion is easy to follow … . developments are explained largely without jargon and with the non-specialist reader very much in mind.” (NEP-HIS blog, February, 2012)
“Book provides a socio-technical account of VISA, a banking service to which banks that issued cards belonged and that sold card-processing services to merchants. … a readable volume, based on an extensive set of interviews of protagonists of the story and on secondary theoretical and banking literature. … a welcome addition to the history of banking and of information technologies, and a useful example of how to examine the role of any modern technology within the cultural and operational context in which it is used.” (James W. Cortada, Technology and Culture, Vol. 53, January, 2012)
“In this book from the ‘History of Computing’ series from Springer, Stearns looks at the origins of the VISA electronic payment system. … Stearns combines many of these aspects into a very readable book, covering the historical growth of VISA, the personalities involved in its rise, and the computing technology that underpins the organization. Swiping my VISA card will never be quite the same again.” (David B. Henderson, ACM Computing Reviews, August, 2011)
ISBN: 9781849961387
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 559g
240 pages
2011 ed.