Visa corporate card sales up 121%

Total sales of Visa's corporate prepaid credit card product in Colombia grew 121% to 3.8bn pesos (US$1.5mn) during the first eight months of 2004 compared to the same period last year, local press reported. The credit card allows corporate clients to make purchases and withdraw money from automatic teller machines using a Visa Electron card without opening an individual savings account. Total withdrawals from ATMs grew 159% to 54.3bn pesos in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period 2003. The total number of this type of credit card on the market rose 136% to 156,627 cards in August compared to the same time last year. Currently 647 companies use this service, up from 200 companies in December 2003, according to the report.