Visa International identifies the future of card use for the Middle East

The new campaign, which will run under the name 'Visa Takes You Places', aims to leverage recent statistics that point to a shift in consumer behaviour from traditional payment sectors such as travel and entertainment, to card use for ordinary goods and services.

"In recent years, Visa has witnessed a considerable change in spending habits with a strong move away from old-fashioned cash towards the convenience and flexibility of payment cards. The introduction of a new brand strategy, which has been specially designed for the Central Europe Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region, will support this by encouraging further migration from ATM to point of sale (POS)," explained Premal Patel, Head of Marketing Visa.

Since 1999, Visa has observed a surge in card transactions at shops and other service outlets with an average increase in number of transactions of 120% across the eight countries within the Middle East. Figures also reveal that the highest growth market is Lebanon with an increase in number of sales transactions of 261% followed by Oman with 194% and UAE with a rise in merchant transactions of 118% over the past 3 years.

"In line with these recent trends, we believe that our new strategy portrays the future of the payment card industry in this region with a confident, innovative and progressive attitude towards card usage and direct communication of the benefits of everyday card use" added Patel.

The Middle East is one of the fastest growing regions for Visa in the world. By the end of March 2002, more than six million Visa cards had been issued by Member banks across the region - an increase of 32% on the previous year. Transactions rose to 110 million and cardholder expenditure reached US$33 billion, up 23% on March 2001.

"Another market sector which has noticeably changed in recent years is the reduction in value of average transactions, proving that cards are no longer only used for high cost purchases and the trend for using plastic for every kind of spending - increasingly on everyday items such as food, clothes and petrol - is set to accelerate," said Patel.

Figures for March 2002 show a seven per cent reduction in the average transaction costs across the region, compared to the same period last year. The UAE posted an average of $US86 per transaction, compared with US$93 the previous year. Jordan saw the largest reduction in average transaction value of nearly 20% in the past year from US$146 to US$120 while other markets have seen further reductions - Saudi Arabia from $175 to $168, Qatar from $152 to $137 and Kuwait from $217 to $206.

"Through this strategy, Visa CEMEA can ensure the effectiveness of all future brand communication and maintain Visa's leading position within the payments industry. We will continue to support our member banks and provide a platform for all future brand development," added Mr Patel.

ENDS