At a media briefing this evening Visa International Asia Pacific president and CEO Rupert Keeley said that while the credit card business for the company has been growing by 50 per cent each year the debit card business is growing at around 150 per cent in India. The company is looking at increasing the number of outlets where its cards can be used. Right now a little over 100,000 merchants across the country accept Visa and the organisation is hoping to grow this three fold within the next two years. He said that the new foreign travel card did not require a passport or any counter signing as is the case with travellers cheques.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com Visa South Asia country manager Santanu Mukherjee said that mobile commerce would be an excellent revenue source for the company in the future. Quoting a recent Gartner report he said that penetration of mobile phones would go up to 5.6 per cent by the end of the year. Right now the company is exploring possible alliance with mobile operators.

As far as marketing initiatives are concerned the company will be having ads in around 20 publications such as Outlook. On television the company's focus will rest on the advantages of the debit card. It has a 2:1 ratio to the credit card for visa. The spots will seek to increase consumer awareness about the product and the situations where it comes in handy like a gas station. The spots will start from next month. The company has also started targetting the lower income groups in a bid to spread card usage. It claims to have around 11 million debit cards and five million credit cards in circulation in the country.

SBI chairman S K Purwar added that each month the bank issues 350,000 debit cards. It has set itself the target of delivering at least 25,000 Vishwa Yatra Foreign Travel Cards each year.