Ireland sees 17% rise in Visa card use

Annual expenditure on Visa cards in Ireland reached €15.5bn for the first time last year, marking an increase of 17% on 2011.

According to the company's annual report for the year ending September 30, 2012, one in every €7 of consumer spending in Ireland is now on a Visa card.

There was also a 43% increase in the number of Visa cards - Debit, Credit and Prepaid - in Ireland last year.

Mark O'Brien managing director in the UK and Ireland for Visa, said with nearly five million Visa cards in Ireland, the largest increase last year was in Debit cards.