VISA WAS planning last night to proceed with its $17 billion initial public offering, betting underwriters can pull off the biggest stock sale in US history during the worst year for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index since 2001.

Visa, the world's largest credit-card network, may eclipse AT&T Wireless Group's $10.6 billion offering in 2000. San Francisco-based Visa would rank as the world's second-biggest IPO after the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China's $22 billion offering in 2006. The offering will "set the tone" for the equity markets this year, said Chip MacDonald, a partner in the capital markets practice at law firm Jones Day in Atlanta. "It's going to be a bellwether."

Visa is pressing ahead as consumers buy with credit cards instead of cash. - (Bloomberg)