Visa Commercial Metric Tracks and Forecasts Increased Business and Government Spending

Using the CCE index, the first and only standardized metric to track business and government spending globally, Visa Commercial predicts global CCE in 2006 will be US$64.8 trillion, which represents a 6.6 percent increase over 2005 estimates of US $60.8 trillion.

The CCE index provides the global payment industry, including Visa and its 21,000 member financial institutions, an unbiased and consistent way to monitor global business expenditures. The Visa CCE index includes all commercial spending with the exception of payroll and other select expenditures.

“As the only standardized global metric to track and forecast global commercial spending, Visa Commercial’s CCE index captures the pulse of business and government spending and measures the continued transition to electronic payment systems, including the full spectrum of Visa products and services,” said Aliza Knox, senior vice president, Visa Commercial, Visa International.“The global CCE index provides a reliable benchmark of global business expenditures which allows us to gauge the traction of various payment types with corporate and government entities and helps to identify new growth opportunities for our members.

This index predicts Jordan’s 2006 CCE will reach US$17.5 million, representing a 10 percent increase when compared to 2005’s US$15.9 million.

Discussing Visa International's development of the CCE index Mr. Said Shuqom, Visa International General Manager for the Levant stated, "The CCE index, which was originally developed in-house by Visa, is the perfect tool to analyze the corporate and government markets we operate in. Visa is always keen on studying its markets with innovative and unbiased methods so we may be able to see where our market’s exact strengths and weaknesses lie in terms of government and corporate performance.  We will be calculating the CCE index for Jordan annually as we strive to optimize our performance to maintain our world-leading expertise."

CCE Methodology

Utilizing methodology developed in-house by Visa and unveiled in 2004 CCE draws upon government data in methods similar to the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index, which monitors consumer-related spending.Global CCE is estimated using four key data elements: the amount of business-to-business purchases to acquire goods and services used in production; wholesale and retail purchases of final goods; some business capital expenditures; and government spending on goods and services.Adjustments were made for capitalized expenditures, such as construction and durable defense spending.The calculations measure transactions at basic prices, which include taxes (less subsidies) on production.The types of transactions included in CCE can be captured on a variety of Visa products including Visa Corporate, Visa Commerce, Visa Purchasing, Visa Business and Visa Distribution.

Commercial Expenditure Regional Breakdown

Overall 2005 estimates and 2006 forecasts for electronic and paper-based business and government spending within Visa’s six global regions breaks down as follows:

Global payment trends indicate a movement towards electronic-based transactions, providing a significant opportunity for Visa’s suite of commercial products.Visa Commercial provides payment products with information management and services designed to help businesses and government achieve greater efficiency, control and convenience.The global CCE index establishes a valuable baseline for measuring market penetration growth and effectiveness for Visa and its member financial institutions.

# # #

Notes to Editors:

Complementary CCE Analysis Available:Visa USA is providing a detailed segmentation analysis of commercial spending in the US market broken down by small, mid-sized and large companies, and government agencies associated with the release of the latest global CCE data.For more information, please visit the newsroom at www.usa.visa.com.Within the next week, Visa Europe will also be providing a localized version of the CCE announcement containingdata specific to their region.For more information, please visit their press and media site at www.visaeurope.com.

About Visa International

Visa International is a partnership of 21,000 member banks.These banks have issued over a billion Visa cards worldwide on which US$4 trillion per year is spent across over 150 countries.

Visa’s role is to provide payment solutions for its member banks, enabling them to issue cards and process merchants’ Visa card transactions. The Visa products issued by the banks are safer, more convenient and more efficient than cash. Furthermore, they help to bring people into the banking system and to increase the funds available for commercial loans, the lifeblood of a growing economy.

About Visa Commercial: Visa Commercial provides payment products with information management and services designed to help businesses and the public sector achieve greater efficiency, control and convenience.By integrating with an organization’s financial system, Visa Commercial payment products and services automate manual processes, reduce administrative activities and eliminate paper-based processes.Visa Commercial ensures compliance with an organization’s policy and provides spending control, greater insight into expenditures, and cash flow management for virtually every type of business expense and segment, including small business, middle-market, large enterprises, and the public sector.As the leader in the commercial market space, Visa Commercial offers unsurpassed acceptance in more than 150 countries worldwide.For more information, visitwww.visa.com/visacommercial.