Consumers Expected to Buy Much More Than Just Chips and Dip This Super Bowl Weekend, According to Visa USA Data.

Jewelry Stores and Florists Likely to Join Electronics Stores and Supermarkets in Experiencing a Super Bowl Shopping Rush

SAN FRANCISCO -- Visa USA, a leading payment brand and the nation's largest payment system, reported today that Americans are likely to stock up on much more than just food, beverages and electronics this Super Bowl weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). According to historical Visa data, jewelry and floral retailers also are likely to experience large increases in consumer spending.

"We expected that supermarkets and electronics stores would see the largest increases in spending as consumers stock up on chips, dips, beer and flat-screen TVs," said Wayne Best, senior vice president, business and economic analysis, Visa USA. "What's interesting is the rather dramatic rise in spending in the jewelry and floral retail categories. That may suggest consumers are trying to get an early jump on shopping for the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday, or perhaps they're feeling guilty about spending a lot of time watching football and are planning peace offerings to their loved ones."

According to a review of historic Visa data, jewelry stores and florists experienced more than a 30 percent increase during Super Bowl weekends in 2005 and 2006 compared with other weekends. Traditionally, consumers have been known to spend more at supermarkets, wholesale club warehouses and electronics stores on Super Bowl weekend than they do on other weekends before and after the big game.

Purchase Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) in the United States totaled more than $7.2 trillion in calendar year 2006, with general-purpose payment cards capturing about one-third of that total. Spending on Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid products represented nearly 17 percent of total Purchase PCE. That means $17 out of every $100 spent by consumers was on a Visa-branded card.

Visa has been a proud sponsor of the National Football League (NFL) since 1995, actively engaging in consumer, member bank and merchant activation programs. Through NFL and team partner relationships, Visa has implemented national advertising and promotions, product and event marketing, and a national tour to promote financial literacy among high school students.

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 13,420 member financial institutions, more than 488 million Visa-branded cards have been issued to cardholders in the United States. Last year, U.S.-based financial institutions relied on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $1.3 trillion in transactions with unparalleled reliability. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources -- anytime, anywhere, anyway.