Visa Europe news and archive

Consumer spending drops amidst Brexit fears

Consumer spending saw the slowest increase in more than two years in May as mounting uncertainty towards the EU referendum and a slowing global economy takes a toll on consumer confidence, according to a new report from Visa. Spending increased by just 0.8 percent annually in May, down from a 2.6 percent increase in April, according to Visa UK's...

Featured

Fashion

House of Holland showcases new shopping app at LC:M

House of Holland launched a new augmented reality payment technology app at his menswear showcase during London Collections: Men, which allows consumers to scan and buy clothes off the catwalk. Launched in collaboration with Visa Europe’s innovation hub, Collab, and visual discovery and augmented reality app Blippar, the app is designed to be an...

Retail

Consumer spending on fashion falls 2.8 percent

Consumer spending on clothing and footwear has fallen 2.8 percent year-on-year in April, marking the biggest fall in fashion year-on-year spending since September 2014, according to Visa Europe. The cold weather is seen as the main reason behind a relatively flat high street spending in April, which improved just 0.2 percent year-on-year, which...

Retail

Contactless payments continue to soar

Contactless payments increased by 237 percent over the last six months compared to the same period the year before, according to Visa Europe, fuelled by the increase in the limit from 20 to 30 pounds last September. Consumers purchasing products over 20 pounds using contactless payment has grown by 19.1 percent in the period between October 2015...

Featured

Retail

UK consumer spending growth hits eight-month high

British consumer spending grew at its fastest rate in eight months in January, according to Visa’s consumer spending index, helped by a surge in clothing and footwear sales. Visa’s consumer spending index revealed that consumer spending increased by 2.7 percent on an annual basis in January, the highest growth rate since May 2014, and up from...

Featured

Retail

Solid overall spending growth in December

Consumer spending increases solidly in December, up 2.3 percent year-on-year, rounding off 2015 as the second strongest year since 2008, according to research from Visa Europe. Visa’s Consumer Spending Index for December, shows solid overall spending growth in December, with e-commerce winning out over the festive period with a 7.4 percent...

Retail

Shoppers to spend 1.3 billion pounds on December 23

UK shoppers are expected to spend 1.3 billion pounds on Visa cards on Wednesday, December 23, making it the biggest shopping day of the year, according to Visa Europe. The credit card company said more than 37 million transactions are set to take place on December 23, up 10 percent on 2014, and total spending is predicted to rise by three...

Retail

Retailers to benefit from contactless limit increase

Retailers across the UK are set to benefit from the increase in contactless payment limit from 20 pounds to 30 pounds on September 1, but fashion retailers in particular will profit the most, according to Visa Europe. With approximately 58 million contactless cards in use in the UK, retail sales between 20 and 30 pounds currently account for all...

Retail

Chinese tourist spend up 45 percent in UK

Spending by Chinese tourists in the UK increased by 45 percent year-on-year in July, following the introduction of relaxed visa regulations. According to figures by Visa Europe, Chinese tourists spent 50 million pounds using Visa across the retail and leisure sectors, overtaking France and Australia to become the second highest spending tourists...

Retail

UK shoppers biggest adopters of contactless payment in Europe

British consumers spent more than 330 million euros in March alone using contactless cards, according to new data from Visa, making them the biggest adopters of contactless payments in Europe. In the 12 months to March 2015, the number of contactless cards in circulation grew by more than 37 percent in the UK alone, where there are around 49.6...

Fashion

Cyber Monday set to be busiest online shopping day

Online retailers in the UK are getting set for Monday, December 2, which is being predicted as the busiest online shopping day of the year, according to Visa Europe. The research is predicting that 450 million pounds will be spent in one day and that online Visa transactions will top 7.7 million, up 16 percent on 2012. The dramatic increase is...

Fashion

April showers kept shoppers home

Spring may have sprung, but the wettest April on record kept shoppers home and made for an 11 per cent drop in sales. Sales of clothing and footwear was down -8.1%, with spending down across all channels compared to a year ago, led by -6.9% decline on high street. Online expenditure only slightly lower (-0.8%). Commenting on the latest results,...