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As a leading provider of payment solutions to financial institutions worldwide, Visa carries unmatched recognition and acceptance around the planet. Visa-branded cards generate almost $2 trillion in annual volume and are accepted at more than 22 million locations worldwide. Jointly owned by more than 21,000 member financial institutions, Visa is a private, for-profit association dedicated to serving its members, cardholders and merchants. | |||
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The Challenge
Visa management realized that technology-driven change in the payments environment required a shift in way it utilized its corporate web site. What was then primarily a media relations outlet needed to become a multi-purpose communication channel that would clearly articulate the firm’s value proposition and strategic vision to a wider range of current and prospective stakeholders. That vision describes a financial world transformed—where individuals, enterprises, governments, and entire economies all benefit from the transactional efficiencies made possible by Visa electronic payment products. When the firm approached Extractable to undertake the site redesign we felt a unique responsibility and challenge.
The Solution
Having worked with Visa on more than 100 projects since 2001, Extractable already had a strong partner relationship with the company. We were intimately familiar with Visa's brand identity system and had prior experience in its implementation. For the corporate website project, we conducted an in-depth strategy phase, working closely with senior Visa executives in research and interviews to help the company distill its vision of global commerce in the new, smart economy of the 21st century.
Visa's strong connection to individuals over the years led to a creative strategy of focusing on people-through imagery, stories, and a clean user interface-that would resonate with visitors to the site. One of the ways this was executed was via a Flash-based timeline that showcases the more intangible "power" of Visa, through an innovative, "24-hour tour" of Visa usage throughout a day and throughout the world.
For Visa, it was also critically important that updating and maintaining the site be as simple and intuitive as possible. Extractable's long experience in working with enterprise-level content management systems (CMS) enabled us to implement the Interwoven TeamSite CMS, allowing for easy modification and maintenance of content. Extractable also built and integrated a variety of databases and tools to manage documents such as press releases, generated from Visa regions all over the world. The system provides for the highest levels of security through a comprehensive access feature that allows various levels of input and approval based on passwords and privileges.
The Impact
Launched in the fall of 2004, Visa's new corporate website demonstrates excellence in strategic thinking, intuitive design, and the latest in development technologies for one of the most important brands in the world. It is a point of pride that Visa continues to use Extractable as one of its primary interactive agencies, and that our ongoing relationship has now produced more than 100 successful projects since 2001.