VISA membership in India up 36 pc in 2005-06

Mumbai, June 28 (UNI) Visa, the world's largest payment network, today said its card issues in India grew 36 percent in 2005-06.

The firm issued 39 million cards in India, of which 27 million were debit cards and 12 million credit cards, release issued here today by Visa said.

It reported 556 million transactions by its cardholders, 38 percent higher than the previous year. Card sales grew 47 percent to USD32 billion, while retail sales rose 61 percent to USD5.37 billion.

As a result, Visa said, it maintained a leadership position in the Indian market. Its chief rivals here include MasterCard and American Express. ''We have focussed on offering innovative products and services and building strategic partnerships for overall development of the payment industry,'' the release quoting its South Asia Country Manager Santanu Mukherjee said.

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