Under Pressure, Visa Agrees to Let Non-Banks Issue Its Card

The board of Visa U.S.A., under pressure from revenue-hungry members, decided Monday to open up its association and allow non-banks to issue Visa credit cards.

Member banks, facing lower profits, have wanted to issue cards on behalf of oil companies, retail stores and other non-banks.

The decision to lift the moratorium on non-bank participation, imposed a year ago, came at a meeting of the 27-member board of directors of the San Mateo, Calif.-based card association.

When Visa imposed the moratorium in November, 1990, the hard-line stance won praise from bankers who wanted to protect their credit card turf.

But with new strains on bank profitability and the use of non-banks by rival MasterCard International, the moratorium came under question.

MasterCard has sought out phone companies, oil companies and retail stores to set up joint programs with its member banks.

As a result, it is believed to be closing a longstanding market-share gap with Visa.