Paper or plastic? Visa hopes you choose the latter. Visa operates the world's largest consumer payment system (far ahead of rivals MasterCard and American Express) and boasts nearly 2.5 billion credit and other payment cards in circulation across more than 200 countries. As part of its business, the company licenses the Visa name to member institutions, which issue and market their own Visa products and participate in the VisaNet payment system that provides authorization, processing, and settlement services. The company also offers debit cards, Internet payment systems, value-storing smart cards, and traveler's checks. Visa's network connects thousands of financial institutions worldwide.