Credit Card Charges Shoot Up 26 Percent

Visa and MasterCard charge volume jumped 26 percent in the first quarter, driven by explosive growth in Asia and the United States, the card associations said Tuesday.

Visa International said cardholders across the globe charged $172.2 billion in the first three months of the year, compared to $137 billion for the same 1994 period. MasterCard’s worldwide charge volume rose to $102.5 billion from $80.4 billion last year.

Asia-Pacific was the fastest growing segment. Visa charges totaled $21.5 billion, an 18 percent increase over the previous year, the San Francisco card association said.

MasterCard charge volume in Asia was up nearly 43 percent to $25.6 billion.

In the United States, Visa charges grew 33 percent to $78.2 billion - the biggest jump in 11 years.

MasterCard said charges in the United States rose 22 percent to $43.9 billion.