Sales volume of Visa cards in Mideast surges by 24pc

Electronic payment is becoming more prominent in Mideast retail, say the latest statistics by Visa international which witnessed a 31 per cent growth in the number of Visa cards issued in the region.

Visa registered $30.96 billion in sales volume which represents a 24 per cent growth in card transactions in 2001. The number of total transactions grew by 30 per cent to 131.81 million.

The organisation had impressive growth in the UAE, where the number of Visa cards issued grew by 18 per cent to 1,077,125, a 27 per cent increase in sales volume to $5.11 billion. The total number of transactions grew by 42 per cent to 28 million.

Visa is accepted at 658 ATMs and 16,107 merchant outlets in the region. However, average transaction value has come down to $186 or Dh679. But, there was a 30 per cent rise in the number of sales transactions in shops and other outlets. Over the last five years, retail sales volume in the region has risen by 132 per cent.

"Out of the 28 million transactions in the UAE last year, 14 million were done at points of sales (POS) and the rest 14 million for cash withdrawals. This ratio is the highest in the region and means that people are using credit cards more for day-to-day purchases beside cash withdrawal from ATM machines," said Peter Scriven, general manager of Visa Middle East.

"These impressive growth figures reveal the changing patterns of payment in a rapidly-developing region – and a real change in people's lifestyles.

"Only a few years ago, card use was relatively low and largely confined to cash withdrawals. Today, the Middle East residents rely on their Visa cards for every kind of spending - from the supermarket, petrol station and book stores to restaurants and clothes.

"This also means that the local payment market is becoming matured. In fact, compared to other countries in the region, this is the most matured economy in terms of electronic payment system."

In the Middle Eastern, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon have the highest growth potential. "In Saudi Arabia, the number of card holders rose by 25 per cent to 2.23 million which is less than 10 per cent of the population, whereas it is over 30 per cent in the UAE. So there is a huge potential in growth," he said.

Visa has a 67 per cent market share in electronic card payment systems in the UAE, Scriven said, while its market share in the debit and credit card markets in the Middle East is 70 and 80 per cent.

The ratio between cash and credit in the UAE stands around 93:07 per cent, much higher than that of the region's 97.5:2.5. "Cash remains our main competitor in business," Scriven said.

Visa also released its global sales figure for 2001, which reveals an 18 per cent growth to a total of $2.14 trillion in sales volume. The number of transactions increased by 1.17 billion globally to 30 billion. During the peak holiday shopping season, Visa processed more than 4,000 transactions per second.