Visa Debit card growth in Vietnam was more than seven times the global rate in 2006. Vietnam achieved a growth of 123 percent, equivalent to 118,000 Visa Debit cards, becoming one of the fastest growing debit markets in the world.
“In 2005, we had issued 53,000 Visa Debit cards in Vietnam. In two years, we’ve seen a big jump in debit card issuance in Vietnam, highlighting the growing sophistication of Vietnamese customers,” said Mr. Stuart Tomlinson, country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, Visa International Asia Pacific.
“Visa Debit and prepaid cards are accepted in over 170 countries, financial institutions are able to provide not only deposit account access but also innovative payment options in areas such as payroll, money transfers, gifts, travel, and benefits disbursements.”
“Often the first banking experience for consumers in countries such as Vietnam is through a Visa Debit card. For example in Vietnam, some Visa member banks are now issuing Visa Debit cards on account opening in an effort to broaden the services of the transaction account, providing both point of sale and ATM access. Our members in Vietnam are actively embracing Visa Debit as a means to provide electronic access to cardholders’ own funds both within and outside of Vietnam,” Mr. Tomlinson said.
Asia Pacific as a whole reported growth of 31 percent in 2006, approximately double the global average.
Visa International Asia Pacific reported that the total card sales volume for its consumer debit and prepaid programs for 2006, which includes cash transactions, was US$156 billion for year ended 2006, a 31 percent increase over 2005. The total card sales volume for Visa consumer debit and prepaid programs globally grew by 17 percent in 2006 to US$2.68 trillion. This equals 60 percent of Visa global total consumer volume and more than 67 percent of the number of Visa transactions
[1].
Rahul Khosla, executive vice president and general manager, Products Group, Visa International Asia Pacific said debit and prepaid products were important in creating a choice of payment options for Asia Pacific consumers.
“Debit and prepaid are becoming mainstream products for consumers in Asia. It was only three years ago that the volume of global Visa debit and prepaid retail sales and cash transactions first surpassed those made using credit cards,” Khosla said.
“Debit and prepaid products are about delivering greater convenience and relevance for consumers. Debit cards provide consumers with the convenience of having greater access to their bank account wherever they are, while prepaid products target applications such as gift, novelty and travel cards, and enable consumers to have access to these whether or not they have a prior relationship with a financial institution,” said Mr. Tomlinson.
Consumers in Australia, India and Thailand were the top three debit and prepaid markets in the Asia Pacific last year for transaction volume, accounting for more than 62 percent of the total debit and prepaid retail sales and cash transactions.
India, Thailand and South Korea led the region in the number of Visa Debit and Prepaid cards on issue with more than 33.9 million, 13.9 million and 11.6 million cards respectively. Several emerging markets experienced triple digit growth in 2006 such as Bangladesh (155 percent), Pakistan (146 percent) and Vietnam (123 percent) in 2006.
Huong Ly
[1] Based on total consumer volume of US$4.4 trillion and 59.9 billion total transactions
[2] According to Visa member financial institutions Quarterly Operating Certificates (data is provided by Visa member financial institutions, and therefore may be subject to change).
Vietnamese
