| When shopping
at online merchants outside their home countries, Visa cardholders spent most
on: - Transport - about $109 million, an increase of 79 per cent year
on year.
- Retail and trade - at about $103 million, a 90 per cent increase.
- Professional and commercial services - at about $63 million, an increase
of 18 per cent.
- Education - at about $26 million, up 50 per cent
- And,
sports and leisure -at about $24 million, an increase of 83 per cent.
Visa
Asia Pacific executive vice president and general manager product group Philip
Yen said, “The rise in online shopping throughout Asia Pacific is part of
a wider global trend that has seen online sales increase dramatically over the
past few years. These figures demonstrate that the online environment makes it
extremely easy for consumers to purchase goods and services while traveling or
to shop overseas without leaving their homes.” “Consumers and merchants
are both contributing to this growth. For the consumers, the convenience and security
that online shopping provides combined with their increasingly pressing need to
manage time efficiently are the driving factors. For merchants, their recognition
of the ease and speed that the online channel brings to their businesses contributes
strongly to the rise in the number of online shops. Visa expects to see these
figures continue to grow well into 2006 and beyond,” added Yen. | 
