Visa EU processed a record number of 16 million e-commerce transactions through its VisaNet system in the last three months of 2001, totalling around EUR1.2 billion.
The strongest rise in online transactions was seen in the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Switzerland.
Peak growth was reached in December 2001 with just under six million transactions. Month on month growth was greatest between October and November at 15.2%. This fell slightly between November and December at an increase level of 11.3%
The number of transactions increased by just over 28% between October and November. The average value of each transaction was EUR80, which remained fairly constant throughout 2001.
Jon Prideaux, executive vice-president of Visa EU, says: "Our figures show that shopping online has been growing in popularity, particularly in the peak shopping season run-up to Christmas. Of the 189 million Visa cardholders in Europe, over 50 per cent have access to the Internet and of these we are seeing some 30 per cent making purchases online."
He adds: "We believe that with the introduction of new payment security measures, such as Verified by Visa, consumers will feel happier about shopping online and predict that the figures will carry on rising throughout 2002."
The Verified by Visa service offers shoppers the option of typing in an additional PIN/password at the online check-out.