U.S. Commercial Spending Jumped Almost Seven Percent to $17.3 Trillion in 2006

Visa’s Commercial Consumption Expenditure Metric Projects Robust Commercial Spending Through 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2007

Annual commercial spending in the U.S. grew to $17.28 trillion in 2006, according to new data released today from Visa's Commercial Consumption Expenditure (CCE) index. This figure represents an increase of 6.7 percent over 2005.

According to the index, spending among all key business segments rose during the year, with the strongest growth in spending occurring at midsize and large companies.

"The CCE index is a unique resource that enables Visa and its member financial institutions to more closely monitor current business-to-business spending trends and tailor payment solutions that meet the individual needs of each business segment," said Darren Parslow, senior vice president, Visa Commercial Solutions. "With robust commercial spending anticipated through 2010, there is an opportunity to help businesses of all sizes manage their commercial payments more efficiently."

A breakdown of spending by each business segment in 2006, including percentage increases over 2005 spending, is as follows:

Small business: $4.88 trillion, up 4.3 percent
Midsize companies: $3.50 trillion, up 8.0 percent
Large companies: $7.64 trillion, up 7.8 percent
Government agencies: $1.26 trillion, up 5.9 percent

The CCE index defines small businesses as those with $25 million or less in annual revenues, midsize companies are defined as having $25 million to $500 million in annual revenues, and large companies are defined as those with annual revenues of more than $500 million.

Based on the government data sources and methodology that make up CCE, the index projects that overall commercial spending will rise by 3.9 percent this year to approximately $17.95 trillion. Small business spending is expected to total $5.09 trillion in 2007, up 4.3 percent from 2006.

The index also projects continued growth in business-to-business spending through 2010, when it is expected to eclipse $20 trillion, including $5.7 trillion in small business spending.

"We continue to be optimistic about the future of commercial spending in the U.S.," said Wayne Best, senior vice president, Business and Economic Analysis, Visa USA. "The Visa CCE index shows that commercial spending grew steadily in 2006 across all business sectors and indicates that business-to-business spending in the U.S. should continue to grow this year and through the end of the decade."

On a global basis, the $17.3 trillion in U.S. commercial spending in 2006 represents 26 percent of the $66.7 trillion in total commercial spending worldwide. After a more detailed analysis of the 2006 CCE data, Visa expects to release in the coming weeks additional details on U.S. commercial spending by business industry sector expenditure type.

About Visa Commercial Consumption Expenditure
The Visa CCE index includes all private and public sector commercial spending in the U.S. with the exception of payroll and other select expenditures. CCE utilizes government data sources and research methods similar to the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index that annually monitors consumer-related spending. By using the same source of measures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the Census Bureau, including the gross domestic product, CCE offers an unbiased and consistent way to monitor business expenditures in the United States with comparable methodology used for global spending.

About Visa Commercial Solutions
Visa offers small businesses, middle market companies, large corporations and government agencies trusted, reliable solutions that meet their many commercial payment needs - for virtually any purchase type, any situation or any business process. These capabilities help businesses and government agencies streamline operations, reduce overall costs and improve cash flow for better management of their payment processes. Visa's commercial solutions offer a great way for businesses and the public sector to pay and be paid. For more information about Visa's commercial business, please visit www.visa.com/commercial.

About Visa
Visa USA is a leading payment brand and the nation's largest payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumers and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders in the payment system -- members, cardholders and merchants. Through its 13,382 member financial institutions, more than 510 million Visa-branded cards have been issued to cardholders in the United States.

Worldwide, cardholders in more than 150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accounting for more than $3 trillion in annual transaction volume. VisaNet, Visa's global processing system and the world's largest financial network, processes transactions with unparalleled reliability.

Today, Visa International is providing a global analysis of commercial spending. For more information, please visit the newsroom at www.visa.com/media.

Go back to Press Releases