Visa card spend in Europe grows to €1tn

MORE than €1 trillion was spent on Visa cards in Europe in the 12 months to the end of September as Irish usage also increased.

Spending on Visa grew to €1 in every €8 of consumer spend in Europe during this time.

In Ireland there was a 65.3% increase in the number of Visa cards in use in 2010, with around three million Visa debit, prepaid and credit cards in Ireland.

There was a 12.2% increase in the number of transactions on these cards in Ireland, while the level of money being spent or withdrawn was up 0.4% to €8.79 billion.

The company said this is reflective of the growth of Visa Debit, with Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank in the process of moving their debit portfolio to VisaEurope. Spend on Visa cards in Europe grew by 16% in 2010 to €1tn, according to results released by Visa Europe.

Chief executive of Visa Europe, Peter Ayliffe said: “Despite the uncertain economic climate in 2010, Visa Europe’s strong value proposition and our continued investment in technology has maintained a growing use of Visa Cards in Europe.

“In the last 10 years Visa Europe’s share of consumer spending has more than doubled, from 5.6% to 12.5%.

“In 2011, Visa Europe is focused on becoming the payment means of choice for more and more Europeans.”

Last year Visa Europe opened an office in Dublin and also formed a European partnership with the UCD Centre for Cybercrime Investigation.