September 25, 2008: San Francisco, CA:  San Francisco-based Visa Inc. said Tuesday that it will start supporting the issuance of unembossed cards in the United States, allowing financial institutions to issue cards right at the branch.

Visa USA changed its regulations to permit the issuance of cards in which the account number, account holder’s name and other information is no longer embossed.  While Visa has permitted unembossed prepaid cards in the United States since 2005, the new regulations give issuers the ability to also issue a consumer debit or credit card, as well as a business debit card, immediately to customers.

The move may drive additional activations, while reducing the cost of card issuance.  Consumers may feel more secure being handed their credit card rather than waiting for their card to arrive in the mail.

Visa unembossed cards are accepted by most Visa merchants, with the exception of those who require a manual imprint at the point of sale, usually relying on what Visa calls an old-style “zip-zap” machine.