Visa confirmed as South Africa`s best known payment brand

Johannesburg, 26 Jul 1999

The results of the Global Brand Monitor year end March 1999, an independent survey conducted by NOP International (www.nop.com) on behalf of Visa International, demonstrate that Visa is the most preferred and best known payment card brand both in South Africa and around the world.

Consumers with bank accounts in 49 countries world-wide were asked which payment brand they preferred. 55% of respondents world-wide preferred Visa, with 23% preferring MasterCard and 18% preferring Amex.

South African respondents were asked to name all the payment cards that they could think of. A total of 61% identified the Visa payment card brand first, compared to the 52% who identified MasterCard, 26% for American Express and 24% of respondents for Diners Club. In the same sample, 52% of South Africans preferred the Visa brand compared to the 30% who chose MasterCard, 12% voted for American Express and five percent selected Diners Club.

"These results prove that Visa is an established global brand with very strong consumer awareness amongst the South African population," said Vic Duys, Visa Southern Africa general manager. "Our country has a wide spectrum of consumers, all needing specific products and services, which are made available to them through our nine local Member banks. Recent events which raised consumer awareness of the Visa brand included our announcement as a sponsor of the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales, and the sponsorship of the local Visa Mini Rugby Challenge, a series of rugby development clinics around South Africa."

Visa International recently announced its results for the year ending December 1998. Cardholder expenditure in South Africa had increased by 17% in dollar terms to US$3.5 billion. Overall card usage increased by 7.5% over the course of 1998 in South Africa, and Visa usage in this country is now around the average figure for usage in European Union countries. In 1998, Visa added more than 60,000 ATMs worldwide to its Global ATM Network, a 12 percent increase from the previous year. Visa cardholders can now access their bank accounts at more than 500,000 ATMs in 120 countries.

Visa International

As the World`s Best Way to Pay, Visa is the leading payment brand and the largest consumer payment system worldwide with more volume than all other major payment cards combined. Visa plays a pivotal role in advancing new payment products and technologies to benefit its 21,000 member financial institutions and their cardholders. Visa has more than 70 smart card programs in 33 countries and on the Internet, with 23 million Visa chip cards, including over 8 million Visa Cash cards. Visa is pioneering SET Secure Electronic Transaction(tm) programs to enable and advance Internet commerce. There are more than 800 million Visa, Interlink, PLUS and Visa Cash cards, which generate nearly US$1.4 trillion in annual volume. Visa-branded cards are accepted at more than 16 million worldwide locations, including at over 500,000 ATMs in the Visa Global ATM Network. Visa`s Internet address is www.visa.com.

The Global Brand Monitor Survey is carried out by NOP agency with headquarters in London. At present, the survey is conducted in 49 countries world-wide. The regions are granted a degree of flexibility in adding new markets to the list of those already subject of survey. There are no restrictions on the time of the year this addition can be made. The survey is currently carried out for 7 CEMEA countries: Hungary, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. There is an option to add countries, however additional surveys should be financed from the regional budget. It is planned for the Czech Republic to be included in the coverage from 3Q`99.

Visa and competitors are measured along several key marketing dimensions (Awareness, Perceptions, Preference, Ownership, Usage and Loyalty). The interviews are conducted in person, except for South Africa, where this is done by telephone. The survey involves interviews with representatives of banked population in selected 49 countries. The sample size is 600 in 6 countries (US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) and 250 in all other countries. In the CEMEA countries, a sample of 250 adults aged 18 - 70 and with some current banking relationship is interviewed in each of the above countries.