2.3 million users make $2bn in transactions through Visa

With more than 20 member banks and over 13,800 trade locations, the Visa card brand registered more than two billion dollars in terms of the total value of transactions between March 2003-2004. This figure is 75% higher than during the same period of the previous year.

During the year ending in March 2004, Visa card owners made electronically paid purchases from retailers worth 100.13 million dollars, 98% higher in comparison to the previous period.

Considering there is one year to go before the launch of the “heavy” ROL, the problems associated with handling cash are determining more and more bank customers to solicit the issue of a card.

Beside sums relating to transactions, which do not necessarily reflect the frequency with which cards are used to make payments, there is a remarkable increase in the use of the card in relation to retailers.

Thus, the number of transactions concluded in stores or commercial locations registered a 118% increase by the end of March 2004. This indicates an acceleration of the process by which card owners are gradually renouncing cash payments, even for daily purchases and not necessarily for high values. This tendency is quite encouraging considering that a large number of the cards active on the Romanian market are used for the payment of wages, being simply regarded as a means to withdraw capital. The total number of transactions exceeded 40.7 million by March 2004, representing a 40% increase.

At any rate, many of the benefits linked to the use of cards are still not widely realised, and cards are not yet properly recognised as being the useful instruments that they are. This is despite the fact that traditional cash payments are increasingly difficult from a practical perspective, especially from the point of view of safety.

razvan.voican@zf.ro