Visa Eyes 1,000% Growth In Electron Card's Base

Visa has launched a three-month promotion with the aim of boosting its Electron debit card U.S. merchant base by 1,000%.

NationsBank Corp., one of 11 U.S. financial institutions and processors that have signed on as acquirers for those accepting the global on-line deposit access card, recently sent letters urging participation to 7,000 of its merchants.

About 10,000 merchants in the United States accept Electron, which is designed as an electronic component of Visa's check card, the card association said.

The promotion, labeled "Window of Opportunity," is tied in to next year's summer Olympics. The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games has predicted that two million international travelers will visit the United States in 1996.

Visa said its "Window" promotion is designed to sell merchants in crucial gateway cities and tourist destinations on Electron's potential purchasing power.

"With the introduction of this program, more merchants will become aware that they can accept Electron cards, and . . . more Electron cardholders will know where they can use their Electron cards" in the United States, said David Brooks, executive vice president of Visa U.S.A.

The "Window" promotional kit includes an Electron merchant brochure and decal as well as a point of sale transaction guide. More than 150,000 such kits have been prepared, with acquirer commitments to mail them to more than 140,000 U.S. merchants.

Those displaying the decal will be entered for one of four trips for two to the Atlanta games in what O.B. Rawls, senior vice president and division executive at NationsBank, termed a "holiday of a lifetime."

Visa expects the Electron card base, concentrated in Europe and Latin America, to grow from 11 million to 48 million during the next three years.

Besides NationsBank, acquirers for Electron include the Bank of America unit of BankAmerica Corp., the Bank of Boulder, Barnett Merchant Services, Wachovia Bank, SunTrust BankCard, Card Establishment Services, EFS National Bank, FNB Omaha, Nabanco, and Wells Fargo Bank.

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