Visa posts LatAm sales of US$1.8bn

US-based Visa expects to post commercial card sales totalling US$1.8bn in the Latin American and Caribbean market by the end of this year, Visa International's commercial solutions VP for Latin America & Caribbean, Rafael de la Vega, told BNamericas. According to De la Vega, this figure is easily attainable given the company's recent annual sales statistics and increased penetration in the use of credit cards in the region. The number of cards destined to businesses and governments in the Latin American and the Caribbean region has jumped 250% in the last four years with total commercial cards currently standing at 900,000, compared to 229,000 as of end-June 1999, De la Vega said. With respect to the increased competition from rival American Express, De la Vega pointed to the fact that Visa had recorded the higher growth rate (250%) and was attacking niche markets untouched by competitors. Visa is working in the microcredit market in Brazil and Costa Rica, De la Vega said, adding that within this segment in Puerto Rico Visa is working in conjunction with Banco de Desarrollo Economico to offer credit to small-sized companies and farmers through credit card, Visa Empresarial. Visa is currently working on a project with Costa Rica's state-run telecoms monopoly ICE to develop a corporate program to replace the telecom company's current dependence on money transactions.