The Sound Of Plastic

As payments rely less on actualcards, Visa is out to make a literal noise for its brand

- Jenny Surane

For years, Visa Inc. has pumped out ads bragging that its cards are accepted everywhere, from local bistros to remote vacation spots. Now there’s somewhere else Visa wants to be: embedded in your toaster.

The world’s largest payments network is forming partnerships with manufacturers of everything from appliances to cars, all of which are increasingly capable of sending and receiving data. And, thus, of selling you things. Visa predicts that within five years there could be about 30 billion devices loaded with its customers’ accounts. The hunk of plastic in your wallet is becoming an artifact. “The card is just a representation of a bunch of digits,” says Visa’s chief executive officer, Al Kelly. “But those digits and the uniqueness of those digits can be in a Fitbit; they can be in my shirt; they can be in my refrigerator; they can be in my mobile phone.”