Visa International retail card spend soars 42 per cent in Middle East to USD6.4 billion

In Kuwait alone growth in Visa card retail expenditure topped 81 per cent to reach US$1.6 billion.

Internationally Visa recorded US$2.7 trillion in card retail spending volume, a 12.2 per cent increase year on year.

"The results for the year to June are very encouraging," said Peter Scriven, General Manager for the Middle East, Visa International CEMEA (Central & Eastern Europe Middle East & Africa). "As more and more consumers experience the convenience and freedom of paying with cards, the spending migration from cash to cards is progressing at an unprecedented rate in all key Middle East markets, particularly noticeable in grocery and clothing sectors.

"The fact that nearly 60 per cent of regional card retail spend was from debit cards such as Visa Electron, shows that this form of payment is gaining widespread acceptance in the region," he added.

Scriven said Kuwait was the fastest growing market in the Middle East, where retail card expenditures rose by 81 per cent to reach US$1.6 billion. This was closely followed by Saudi Arabia - where sales volumes increased by almost 50 per cent to total US$ 2.3 billion while in Lebanon retail spend grew by 26 per cent to reach over US$200 million.

"The Middle East led the growth curve for Visa, largely due to effective marketing and sales campaigns which we have pursued in association with our member banks and merchants. Close partnerships with our member banks have also been enhanced and have contributed to the overall success of our mission in the region.

"We have achieved some major milestones across the region in the past year, including the record 1 million cards issued in Jordan and 500,000 in the Oman," he concluded.

Visa Milestones in the Middle East - June 2002-June 2003
Jordan became the fourth country in Middle East to issue 1 million Visa cards. Meanwhile in the GCC, Oman reached the 500,000-card milestone.

Online shopping was boosted with the launch of Verified by Visa e-security solution. UAE became the first market across Central Europe Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) to launch this programme.

Education is a prime focus and Visa supported Injaz, a unique educational initiative in Lebanon where Visa developed a pilot program on card usage for high school students.

Governments are fast endorsing the card payment trend. Recently, the Jordanian Ministry of Finance announced the acceptance of Visa cards for all public payments.

As official sponsor of Arabian Travel Market and Dubai Shopping Festival, Visa continued to be a keen supporter of key regional initiatives for the fourth and eighth time respectively.