Europay Sustains Double-Digit Pace

Europay International said double-digit growth continued last year in its major performance categories.

The MasterCard-affiliated association, which is responsible for the Eurocard, Eurocheque, edc/Maestro, and related brands in Europe, reported a 15% increase in total cards, to 131.9 million.

Debit types, known as "pay-now" cards, rose by 14.8 million, or 17%, while "pay-later" credit cards increased by 2.9 million, or 10%.

Europay, based in Waterloo, Belgium, claimed a 71% share of European debit cards - largely on the strength of the long-established Eurocheque program - and 59% of combined debit and credit cards. Five times more new debit cards than credit cards were issued in 1995.

Gross sales across all Europay cards, excluding intranation Eurocheque payments, rose 16%, to about $118 billion.

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