Stearns Electronic Value Exchange

Origins of the VISA Electronic Payment System
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-1-84996-139-4
Verlag: Springer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten

Reihe: History of Computing

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Stearns, David L.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Electronic Value Exchange;3
1.1;Preface;6
1.1.1;What is Visa?;7
1.1.2;Why Visa?;8
1.1.3;Purpose of the Book;9
1.1.4;What This Book is Not;11
1.1.5;Sources and Methods;12
1.1.6;Structure of the Book;13
1.2;Acknowledgements;15
1.3;Contents;17
1.4;List of Interviewees;21
1.5;Acronyms;23
2;Setting the Stage: Money, Credit, and Payments in America;26
2.1;The Federal Reserve System and National Check Clearing;27
2.2;Early Charge Cards;31
2.2.1;Western Union and the Department Stores;32
2.2.2;The Oil Industry;35
2.2.3;The Airline Industry;36
2.3;Travel and Entertainment Cards;37
2.3.1;Diners Club;37
2.3.2;American Express;41
2.4;Bank-Issued Credit Cards;42
2.4.1;Early Bank Charge Card Systems;43
2.4.2;The BankAmericard;44
2.4.3;"The Drop";46
2.4.4;Other Bank Credit Card Systems;49
2.5;National Bankcard Associations;51
2.6;Conclusion;53
3;Associating: Dee Hock and the Creation of the Organization;54
3.1;Problems in the Licensing Program;54
3.1.1;A Typical Transaction in 1968;55
3.1.2;Operational Problems;57
3.1.2.1;Authorization, Floor Limits, and Fraud;58
3.1.2.2;Clearing and Settlement of Interchange Transactions;60
3.1.3;Organizational Problems;62
3.1.4;Tensions Come to a Head;64
3.2;Dee Hock;64
3.2.1;Hock's Personality;65
3.2.2;Views on Organizations;67
3.2.3;Views on the Nature of Money;69
3.3;Creation of National BankAmericard Inc.;70
3.3.1;Organizational Dreams;71
3.3.2;Organizational Realities;74
3.3.3;An New Kind of Organization?;76
3.4;Conclusion;76
4;Crafting the Social Dynamics: Staffing, Operating Regulations, and Advertising;77
4.1;Building a Staff;78
4.2;The Operating Regulations;80
4.2.1;The Card and Marks;81
4.2.2;Inter-Organizational Work and Fees;82
4.2.3;Dispute Resolution;86
4.2.4;The Significance of the Operating Regulations;89
4.3;National Advertising;90
4.4;Conclusion;92
5;Automating Authorization: BASE;94
5.1;The Need for Automated Authorization;94
5.2;Automating Local Authorizations;95
5.3;Automating Interchange Authorizations;99
5.4;The Joint National Authorization System;101
5.5;NBI's BASE;103
5.5.1;Acquiring the Talent;104
5.5.2;Design of the System;105
5.5.3;The Development Process;108
5.5.4;Effects of the New System;111
5.6;Conclusion;113
6;Automating Clearing and Settlement: BASE II and III;114
6.1;Truncating the Paper: BASE II;114
6.1.1;Country-Club, Descriptive, and Facsimile Billing;115
6.1.2;Design of BASE II;118
6.1.2.1;Data Capture;119
6.1.2.2;Edit Package and TTUs;121
6.1.2.3;Central Clearing Computer;121
6.1.2.4;Making Up With IBM;123
6.1.3;Final Development and Rollout;124
6.1.4;Effects of the System;125
6.2;Losing Focus: BASE III;126
6.2.1;Problems Begin to Emerge;127
6.2.2;Problems Come to a Head;128
6.2.3;Success in Failure;129
6.2.4;Returning to Purpose and Principles;129
6.3;Conclusion;131
7;Expanding the System: Organizational and Technical Growth;132
7.1;Expanding the Organization;132
7.1.1;IBANCO;133
7.1.1.1;Determining the Structure;133
7.1.1.2;Studium ad Prosperandum, Voluntas in Conveniendum;134
7.1.1.3;Formation;135
7.1.2;Antitrust and Dual Membership;136
7.1.2.1;Historical Context;136
7.1.2.2;The Arguments;137
7.1.2.3;Trials;138
7.1.2.4;Duality;139
7.1.3;Adopting the Name VISA;140
7.1.3.1;The Need for a New Name;140
7.1.3.2;Redesigning the Card;142
7.1.3.3;Implementing the Name;144
7.2;Expanding the Computer Systems;146
7.2.1;Expanding BASE I's Capacity;147
7.2.1.1;Capacity in Real-Time Systems;148
7.2.1.2;DEC or IBM?;149
7.2.1.3;Airline Control Program;150
7.2.2;Multiple Data Centers;153
7.2.2.1;Selecting the Site;153
7.2.2.2;Designing a Dual-Switch ACP System;154
7.2.3;Expanding Internationally;155
7.2.3.1;International Authorizations;155
7.2.3.2;Multi-Currency Clearing and Settlement;156
7.3;Conclusion;157
8;Automating the Point of Sale: Encoding Standards and Merchant Dial Terminals;158
8.1;Dreaming the Future: BASE IV;159
8.1.1;Electronic Value Exchange;159
8.1.2;Gems in the Rubble;160
8.2;Encoding the Card: Magnetic Stripes and Magic Middles;161
8.2.1;Encoding Options and Standards;162
8.2.2;Magstripe Tracks;164
8.2.3;Magstripe Security;166
8.2.4;The Magic Middle;168
8.2.5;Visa and the Magstripe;170
8.3;Dialing for Dollars: The Merchant Dial Terminal Project;172
8.3.1;Dial Terminals;172
8.3.2;The Pilot Test;173
8.3.3;Adoption Incentives;175
8.3.4;Resolutions;176
8.3.5;Adoption and Consequences;177
8.4;Conclusion;178
9;Challenging Conceptual Barriers: EFT and the Debit Card;180
9.1;Visa Synonymous with Credit, Debt, and Financial Distress?;181
9.2;EFT Utopia, Dystopia and Reality;182
9.3;Electronic Funds Transfer or Electronic Value Exchange?;186
9.4;The "Asset Card" Concept;188
9.5;NBI's Asset Card;190
9.5.1;"Credit Paranoia";191
9.5.2;Member Reactions;194
9.5.3;Credit Cards vs. "Real" Banking;194
9.5.4;Entrée vs. EFT;195
9.5.5;Enter Entrée;198
9.6;Conclusion;200
10;Negotiating Roles: Controversies and the End of an Era;202
10.1;Visa Travelers Cheques;203
10.1.1;A Brief Background of Travelers Cheques;203
10.1.2;Visa's Entry Into Travelers Cheques;206
10.1.3;Reactions and Negotiations;207
10.1.4;Launch;209
10.2;The JC Penney Deal;211
10.2.1;The Deal;212
10.2.2;The Reactions;212
10.3;Hock's Departure;215
10.3.1;Signs of Empire Building;216
10.3.2;101 California: Headquarters for an Empire;217
10.3.3;The King is Dead. Long Live the King;218
10.4;Hock's Legacy;220
11;Conclusions: Toward a General Sociotechnical History of Payment Systems;222
11.1;Contribution to Grand Themes;224
11.2;Some New General Dynamics in Payment Systems and Cooperative Networks;226
11.2.1;Value Flows According to a Mark;227
11.2.1.1;Marks;227
11.2.1.2;Marks and Value Exchange Rules;228
11.2.1.3;Rules and Guarantees;229
11.2.1.4;Marks and Payment Cards;230
11.2.1.5;Application;231
11.2.2;Networks, Boundaries, and Gateways;232
11.2.2.1;Making Value Flow;232
11.2.2.2;Boundaries;233
11.2.2.3;Physical and Logical Structure;234
11.2.2.4;Transgressing and Defending Boundaries;235
11.2.2.5;Boundaries Within the Banks: Debit Cards;235
11.2.2.6;Boundaries Between Types of Banks: the Thrifts;236
11.2.2.7;Boundaries Between Financial Organizations: CMAs;237
11.2.2.8;Boundaries Between Industries: JC Penney;238
11.2.2.9;Application;239
11.3;Epilogue;239
12;Appendix Core System Statistics;241
13;References;244
14;Index;257