Visa: Latin American E-Commerce to Surge

Latin American electronic commerce is expected to grow 42% this year on surging economic growth, according to Guillermo Rospigliosi, Visa Inc.'s director of e-commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Online commerce in the region, which totaled $11 billion last year, may nearly triple by 2010, to $30 billion, as faster Internet service becomes more common and more consumers receive credit cards, Mr. Rospigliosi said during a press conference last week in Lima, Peru.

Peruvian e-commerce doubled last year, to $218 million, and may jump by half this year, he said.

As of March, Visa had issued 312 million credit cards in Latin America, and in the 12-month period that ended in March it handled $524 billion of transactions there, Mr. Rospigliosi said.

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