World Business

Visa card spending in Asia-Pacific tops $1 trillion

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-09 14:23

SINGAPORE: Global payments service company Visa said on Wednesday that the total volume generated on all Visa cards across Asia-Pacific reached more than $1 trillion for the 12 months that ended on March 31, 2010.

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This is an increase of 13.2 percent over the same period last year, calculated on a constant dollar basis, Visa said in a statement.

The number of payment transactions rose to 9.8 billion, up from 8.6 billion a year ago, as the trend of consumers moving from using cash and checks to electronic forms of payment continued.

Elizabeth Buse, Group Executive, International, Visa Inc said the strong growth in total volume and transaction volume were positive signs that businesses and consumers in Asia-Pacific are spending more.

"Beyond volume growth, the increasing number of transactions across the region reflects the global trend of an increasing proportion of transactions taking place using electronic forms at the cost of cash and paper payments. This trend makes it critical that infrastructure in both developed and developing economies can support the demand of business and consumers domestically and internationally."