Magazines Archives - 2007 June

VISA reported last month that its Asia-Pacific total card-sales growth for the year ended 2006 nearly doubled that of its global performance. Visa International Asia Pacific recorded a 31% growth from the previous year for its consumer debit and prepaid programmes, with global sales for these up by 17% to US$2.68 trillion.

In transaction volume alone, Australia, India and Thailand were listed among the top three countries, collectively accounting for more than 62% of the debit and prepaid markets in the region last year. As for the volume of cards issued, India, Thailand and South Korea ranked the highest.

Visa’s executive vice-president and general manager of products, Rahul Khosla, sees debit and prepaid products becoming a more conventional method of payment, especially for Asia-Pacific consumers. These products aim to deliver greater convenience and relevance to consumers, he added.

Apart from individual consumers utilising the products, governments and organisations are also adopting Visa debit and prepaid card programmes as benefits and value-added service enhancements.

Organisations such as Australia’s ANZ Banking Group, EZ Link Singapore, HDFC India Bank and Philippines Chinatrust Commercial Bank are among the pioneers driving this payment medium. These companies have introduced schemes such as auto fare-card top-ups for commuter convenience, prepaid foreign currency for travellers, same-day loan services and new payment technologies the likes of mobile-payment platforms.