Visa USA Reports 11.1% Third-Quarter Growth In Sales Volume

Sales volume reflects consumer and business spending on all Visa-branded products for which Visa is compensated by member financial institutions. Sales volume excludes cash disbursements obtained with Visa-branded cards, balance transfers or convenience checks. Generally, these transactions do not flow through Visa’s network or earn revenues for the company.

Sales volume growth during the quarter reflected three significant achievements:

• Volume on Visa Signature, the company’s credit product designed for consumers with household incomes of $125,000-plus, grew 16.8 percent to $34.0 billion in a year-over-year comparison.
• Visa Business, the company’s small business product suite, experienced growth of 24.1 percent year-over-year to $29.4 billion, driven by the increased use of credit and debit cards by small businesses for integrated reporting, cash flow management and rewards.
• Visa increased its overall acceptance in the United States to 6.4 million merchant locations, an increase of 6.1 percent over the same period last year.

“The growth in Visa-branded volume this quarter reflects the strength and value of our network, the diversity of our product offerings and the trust that our customers place in Visa,” said John Philip Coghlan, president and chief executive officer of Visa USA.

For the quarter, U.S. sales volume on Visa-branded products grew in all of the following product categories:

• Consumer credit grew 6.8 percent to $154.3 billion, compared with the same period in 2005.
• Consumer debit (offline) grew 10.1 percent to $115.0 billion, compared with the same period in 2005. This figure is significant, given Visa USA’s existing volume-share leadership in the debit product category; although, the overall growth rate was impacted by the departure of a large check card portfolio earlier this year.
• Interlink (online debit) grew 24.1 percent to $35.6 billion, compared with the same period in 2005.
• Commercial (including Visa Business) grew 20.8 percent to $45.4 billion, compared with the same period in 2005.

Visa strengthened its relationships during the quarter, announcing partnerships with two major financial institutions and one of the country’s largest retailers.

As the quarter closed, Bank of America and Visa announced a six-year partnership agreement, renewing their long-standing relationship through 2011. As a result, Bank of America remains as one of the largest issuers of Visa-branded payment cards in the United States. Bank of America, which now includes the former MBNA, will continue to issue Visa-branded products. The two organizations will collaborate to develop card products that enhance the purchase experience for the bank’s customers. In July 2006, Wachovia Corp. announced its re-entrance into the consumer credit card business in partnership with Visa.

In September, discount retailer Dollar General Corp. announced that it would begin accepting Visa-branded credit and debit cards at the retailer’s 8,000-plus stores in 34 states.

“Strong partnerships like these are critical to Visa’s continued success, as we seek to grow our network and drive increased benefit to all who touch the Visa system,” Coghlan said.