Global Spending on Visa Business Cards Reaches $190 Billion for Past 12 Months

Global Spending on Visa Business Cards Reaches $190 Billion for Past 12 Months

September 13, 2006

Milestone Achievement Demonstrates Small Business Shift to Electronic Payments For Better Cash Flow Management

    SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 13 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Visa
International today announced that the sales volume of Visa
Business cards worldwide, represented by global small
business spend, has reached US$190 billion over a 12-month
period, as small businesses continue to adopt payment
solutions that are more convenient and secure than cash and
checks.

    For the four quarters ended June 30, 2006, small
businesses worldwide made US$190 billion in purchases with
their Visa Business cards, representing a compound annual
growth rate of 32 percent. Visa Business is leading the
growth within Visa Commercial, and is one of the fastest
growing product segments for financial institutions.

    "Small business owners worldwide want efficient
payment and information solutions that help streamline cash
flow and expense management so they can concentrate on
growing their businesses," said Preet Chhokar, vice
president, Visa Commercial, Visa International.
"Reaching this milestone is a testament to the
advantages Visa Business provides small businesses over
cash and checks."

    The potential for the growth of electronic payments is
significant. Using the Commercial Consumption Expenditure
(CCE) index, Visa International estimates that global
business and government spending, excluding payroll and
certain other capital expenditures, totaled nearly US$61
trillion in 2005.

    Small business CCE can represent upwards of 25 percent
of total CCE, varying by country. One-third of this
business spending could potentially be moved from cash to
electronic payment systems, such as Visa Business
products.

    To help Visa member financial institutions tap into
this opportunity, Visa recently published the Visa Business
Expedition Pack, a 10-step program that offers advice on how
to manage small business credit risk. Visa recently launched
the program during a series of member workshops designed to
help financial institutions anticipate lending obstacles,
meet risk management challenges, and make proactive changes
to implement successful small and medium-sized enterprise
(SME) payment programs.

    Six member workshop sessions were hosted in the
sub-Saharan Africa Region. In addition, in Singapore, more
than 75 delegates benefited from a focused credit risk
workshop during a Commercial Leadership Forum. In Colombia,
more than 60 individuals representing 19 different financial
institutions found the workshops highly valuable. "This
seminar gave me concrete and relevant tools that will help
me better serve the payment needs of my small business
customers," said Adriana Marcela Rivas Ramirez,
general manager, Bank of Bogota.

    Additional sessions are planned in Asia Pacific,
Central Europe, Latin America, and Europe throughout the
year. For more information, please contact a Visa regional
representative.

    Visa Business provides flexible payment solutions for
small businesses. Small business owners can use Visa
Business payment solutions to efficiently manage cash flow,
separate business and personal expenses, streamline
payments, and gain visibility into daily business spend.
Visa Business also lowers costs by reducing manual
paper-based purchase order processes, enabling negotiations
with preferred suppliers and providing access to discounts.

    Notes to Editors:

    About Visa Commercial: Visa Commercial payment
solutions -- Visa Business, Visa Corporate, Visa
Purchasing, and Visa Commerce -- combine payment with
information to create intelligent payment solutions that
enable business and government organizations of any size
and type to reduce costs, streamline operational and
payment processes, and make more informed business
decisions.

    Backed by Visa's unsurpassed acceptance and utility,
Visa Commercial products and services provide the most
complete way to manage payment-related processes, including
travel and entertainment and procurement expenditures,
payroll distribution, and information management. For more
information, visit http://www.visa.com/visacommercial.

    About Visa: Visa connects cardholders, merchants and
financial institutions through the world's largest
electronic payments network. Visa products allow buyers and
sellers to conduct commerce with ease and confidence in both
the physical and virtual worlds. As an association owned by
20,000 member financial institutions, Visa is committed to
the sustained growth of electronic payment systems to
support the needs of all stakeholders and to drive economic
growth. For more information, visit
http://www.corporate.visa.com .

    For more information, please contact:

     Sabine Middlemass, 
     Visa International
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Ingrid Faroyvik, 
     Burson-Marsteller
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

SOURCE  Visa International