Local Visa unit posts 12% hike in payments

MANILA, Philippines - The local unit of credit card firm Visa registered a 12-percent increase in payments to $4 billion last year, $3 billion of which were through credit cards and the balance in debit/prepaid cards.

“Our e-commerce business has grown by 16 percent for the Philippines,” said Iain Jamieson, country manager for Philippines and Guam for Visa International.

Jamieson likewise reported that 27 percent of the card use was for international transactions. The top sources of the transaction were the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Thailand and China.

Tourism volume (inbound) with the Visa cards grew another 12 percent.

In February alone, the top sources of transaction that were made online using Visa cards are the United States, Korea, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Singapore, Sweden and Germany.

Meanwhile, Jamieson observed that the use of debit/prepaid cards has been growing double-digits since November last year.

“Filipino cardholders are demanding for more opportunities for card use,” he added.

For the Visa executive, the direction is the increase in debit/prepaid card usage in the immediate future.

In terms of technological advancement, more card issuers will be using microchips and the EMV technology.

Citibank, in fact, has partnered with Visa in adopting the EMV technology.

Jamieson noted that more and more Filipino cardholders are traveling, and that the need for cards issued in the Philippines must have the microchip applications in their cards.

Visa Philippines also admitted that it is still talking with four to six Philippine banks, for more debit/prepaid card co-launching this year. It has existing debit/prepaid co-branding arrangements with East West Banking Corp., the Union Bank of the Philippines and the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).