Creditnet News Story
Credit card spending skyrockets as a result of the World Cup
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
By Linda McCarthy
The World Cup has done more than draw the eyes and minds of the entire world to South Africa as the world's greatest soccer teams compete for global glory.
Thanks to big spending from Americans, as well as English, Australian, Brazilian and French fans, credit card companies are making lots of money as well. Credit card giant Visa is reporting that international visitors to South Africa have caused a 74 percent jump in transactions between June 1 and June 25. This marked an average of 51,000 more transactions per day over the same period last year. The increase has pumped $176 million into the South African economy.
The company said that more than 90 percent of the spending was on what it considered typical leisure and business categories - accommodation, restaurants, retail, auto rental, and air travel. Fans from the above five countries accounted for 47 percent of all spending.
According to soccer news website World Football Insider, Visa made a concerted effort to become more ubiquitous ahead of the World Cup. It registered 14,000 merchants in South African cities hosting matches in the run-up to the event.
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