Visa Europe sees double digit
growth with €1 in every €7 spent in Europe on a Visa
card
Visa delivering the
future of payments with launches of mobile payments and digital
wallet services in 2012
London, 17 January 2012 - Spend on Visa cards
in Europe grew 14% in 2011, totaling €1.16 trillion, according to
results released by Visa Europe today. This growth now means
that €1 in every €7 of consumer spending in Europe is on a Visa
card, up from €1 in €8 in 2010 and €1 in €18 in 2000.
Double digit growth of Visa
Debit
The growth in debit, as the preferred
payment card for Europeans, continued apace, registering 16%
year-on-year growth in both value and volume of transactions made
at point of sale. Nearly 80% of Visa spend is on debit cards in
Europe.
Peter Ayliffe, Chief Executive, Visa Europe
said: ”Despite the continuing economic challenges, spending on Visa
cards by Europeans grew by 14% in 2011 as more consumers and
retailers recognised the convenience, security and efficiency of
electronic payments. The strongest growth, once again, was on
debit cards.
We expect this growth in electronic
payments to continue during 2012 when we will be launching
mobile payments and our digital wallet services. These
new services, that are a key part of our future of
payments strategy, will revolutionise consumers' everyday
shopping experience to the extent that by 2020 we predict that over
half of all Visa transactions in Europe will be on a mobile
device.'
Visa Europe processing
Visa Europe processed nearly one billion
transactions every month in 2011, registering a 19% year-on-year
growth as the number of processed transactions reached 11.8
billion. This growth in Visa Europe’s processing services has
prompted investment in a new data centre, which is twice the size
of the current primary processing centre. This expanded
operation will support anticipated future increases in processing,
including growth in ecommerce transactions and mobile payments.
Managing risk: the success of
chip
Fraud losses on Visa cards in Europe
reached an all time low in 2011, with the fraud to sales ratio
falling by 27% to 0.038%, meaning that fraud now accounts for less
than four cents in every €100 spent. Much of this downward trend in
the face-to-face environment can be attributed to the success of
EMV chip technology, with more than 75% of all Visa cards in Europe
now chip-enabled. The increased uptake of Verified by Visa by
card issuers and merchants, together with real time risk scoring
introduced into Visa Europe’s processing capability, are
contributing to the reduction in e-commerce fraud.
Future of Payments
Significant progress was made in payments
innovation by Visa Europe in 2011 with a total of 30 million
contactless cards issued and the first mobile payment services
launched, with person-to-person payments and text alerts in October
2011. Strategic investments were also made by Visa Europe in
Monitise and Beyond Analysis¹ to assist in its delivery of its
Future of Payments strategy
In 2012 Visa Europe expects to see
contactless cards hit 50 million in circulation in Europe, and the
first launches of mobile phones enabled to make point-of-sale
transactions. Visa Europe will also launch its new ecommerce
digital wallet service in the latter half of the year.
Financials
Visa Europe, operating as a low cost, not
for profit membership association, for the first time ever reported
total revenues for the year of more than €1 billion.
Following major investments to ensure delivery of Visa Europe’s
‘Future of Payments’, this produced a pre-tax surplus of €241
million. This sum was retained within the business to support
capital and reserves which rose to €738 million.
Note to editors:
About Visa Europe
In Europe, there are 445 million Visa debit,
credit and commercial cards. In the 12 months ending September 2011
those cards were used to make purchases and cash withdrawals to the
value of €1.7 trillion. 14% of consumer spending at point of sale
in Europe is with a Visa card, and almost 80% of that is on Visa
debit cards.
Visa Europe is owned and operated by more
than 3,700 European member banks and was incorporated in July 2004.
Visa Europe is independent of global Visa Inc., with an exclusive,
irrevocable and perpetual licence in Europe, while both companies
operate to ensure global interoperability. As a dedicated European
payment system Visa Europe is able to respond quickly to the
specific market needs of European banks and their customers -
cardholders and retailers - and to meet the European Commission’s
objective to create a true internal market for payments.
Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around
the world. In addition, Visa/PLUS is one of the world’s largest
global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in over
200 countries.
For more information, visit http://www.visaeurope.com/
Monitise and Beyond
Analysis
Monitise is a technology company delivering
mobile banking, payments and commerce networks worldwide with the
proven technology and expertise to enable financial institutions
and other service providers to offer a wide range of services to
their customers in developed and emerging markets. In October 2011
Visa Europe announced a strategic investment of £24.7m in Monitise
plc (LSE: MONI.L) to strengthen the commercial partnership between
the two companies which began in February 2011.
In November 2011 Visa Europe also took a
minority stake in leading customer insight group, Beyond Analysis.
The investment will strengthen Visa Europe's data analytics
capabilities and forms part of its strategy to deliver increased
value for consumers, retailers and banks through electronic
payments. Beyond Analysis has been working with Visa Europe since
2008.