€7.5 billion spent on Visa cards

SOME €7.5 billion was spent with Visa credit cards in the year to end September 2005. Total spending on the 2.5 million cards in Ireland was 15% higher than the previous year.

But the number of Visa cards in use here dropped 1%.

The average transaction value with the cards, including cash withdrawals, was €111, the firm said. It said there were 67.5 million Visa transactions last year - 7.3% more than in 2004. Across Europe, the number of Visa transactions increased by almost 16%, with a total value of over €1 trillion.