Debit card usage continues to drive record growth in the UK for Visa Europe according to its annual results released today.
In the year ending 30th September 2010, Europe's leading payments system saw spending on Visa debit cards leap 45% to a total of £251 billion as the number of cards issued rose 34% to 81m.
Figures released by the UK Payments Council in December 2010 showed that debit card spending overtook cash for the first time in the 12 months to 30th September 2010[1]. This is supported by Visa data which shows there was a 10% increase in the average number of point-of-sale transactions per debit card in 2010.
Peter Ayliffe, Chief Executive, Visa Europe says: "Debit has replaced cash as the favourite way to pay in the UK and at the same time Visa has become the most popular debit card.
"Consumers like the speed, convenience and security that Visa debit cards bring and this is driving a revolution in how we shop and make payments. Over £1 in every £4 spent in the UK is now spent on a Visa card and over 80% of that spending is on debit."
It was another record Christmas for Visa Europe as spending on Visa cards in the UK in December 2010 rose to £29.3bn, a rise of 29% on December 2009. Food, beverages and tobacco saw the biggest spending rise with a year on year increase of 34%. Next were household goods and hotels & restaurants, with rises of 33% and 31% respectively. E-commerce continued its very strong growth, growing at around 38% year on year.
The volume of transactions rose 30% to 634m in the UK and at peak on the busiest shopping day, 23rd December, Visa Europe processed 1,094 transactions every second across Europe compared to 894 in 2009.
Across Europe as a whole, there was a 16.3% growth in point-of-sale (POS) spending on Visa cards for the year ending 30th September, meaning expenditure exceeded €1 trillion for the first time. €1 in every €8 spent in Europe is now spent on a Visa card. This has more than doubled from €1 in every €18 spent 10 years ago.
Fraud cocontinues to fall as investment in innovation pays off
14th February 2011 will be the fifth anniversary of the switch to chip & PIN cards in the UK and latest fraud figures show the big impact this has made on reducing card fraud, with the fraud to sales ratio down by 33% year-on-year to 2010. Face-to-face card fraud has fallen by over a half since the introduction of chip & PIN.
Peter Ayliffe says: "Chip & PIN has been a great success and helped make cards the safest way to pay in the UK. We mustn't be complacent, however, as criminals are becoming more sophisticated every year. This is why we are continuing to invest in industry leading fraud solutions."
Visa Europe is a not-for-profit membership association and its revenues are generated by member banks use of its products and services. Revenues for the year ending 30th June were €879m, a 24% increase on the previous year. €158m of revenue was reimbursed to member banks resulting in a €76m pre-tax surplus which is retained within the business to support capital and reserves which rose to €574m.
Peter Ayliffe says: "These excellent results show Visa Europe is the payment system of choice for consumers, retailers and governments and European banks."