A bottle of champagne was the first VISA purchase made with the euro, the new single currency recently adopted by 11 European countries.

  At midnight, January 1, 1999, in Frankfurt, Germany, the heart of the euro financial services market, the world’s first euro purchase was completed with the payment of 63.91 euro.  The payment was authorized on-line by VISA through the B+S Acquirer network, using a Trintech terminal embedded with their award-winning software package PayWare FX.  The transaction demonstrates that VISA is committed to the euro from day one, minute one.

Cardholders within and outside “Euroland” can use their existing VISA credit or debit card and choose to pay in euro or in the local currency in stores.  The payment amount will be marked with the code EUR on the checkout display and on the receipt signed by the cardholder.  Service quality standards are identical to other currencies in terms of both speed and security.

The VISA Web site (www.visa.com) is currently featuring extensive information on the new euro.