Volkswagen Beetle
Created in 1919, Germany gave the world Bauhaus – the most famous design school in history – the Bauhaus revolutionary approach was to fundamentally change how we view material culture and the built environment around us. For the last 100 years Germany has built on this prestige and in doing so has remained at the forefront of world-leading design. Here we look at four German designers that led the world.
It’s 1990s Berlin. Following the fall of the Berlin wall and the city’s re-unification, there is a momentous excitement in the air. The city is a blank canvas. A significant proportion of the city’s buildings are empty. Prices are low and the parties are wild.
Visa in History
When Bank of America launched the first consumer credit card (BankAmericard), the seeds were sown for Visa. In 1958 this was the first card accepted by large numbers of merchants and ignited a cashless revolution that would change consumer behaviour forever. In the late 60s, several other banks joined together to compete and launched the MasterCharge card.
As the banks battled for market domination, a new entity was formed (National Americard Inc – renamed Visa International in 1976) with Dee Hock at the helm. Among many other changes made under his leadership the original system of the merchant calling up to check the consumer’s credit balance was replaced. In 1973 the system became the first electronic authorisation system. Fast-forward to the twenty-first century and 2008 saw Visa become the largest initial public offering in history. Nevertheless, like all big corporates, Visa knows that to keep ahead the answer lies in one word: innovation.
2019 was the year that London-based Fintech firm Curve consistently hit the headlines and its valuation soared to $250 million. Last year Curve raised $4M in 4 minutes with their crowdfunding campaign and their growth shows no sign of slowing.
So why is everyone talking about Curve?