OTHER NEWS - May 31, 1995

Visa, MasterCard Charges Soar: Driven by explosive growth in Asia and the United States, credit card charge volume jumped 26% in the first quarter, the card associations said. Visa International said cardholders worldwide charged $172.2 billion in the first three months of the year, compared to $137 billion for the same period of 1994. MasterCard’s worldwide charge volume rose to $102.5 billion from $80.4 billion last year. Visa charges totaled $21.5 billion, an 18% increase from the previous year. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing segment, the companies said. MasterCard charge volume in Asia is up about 43% to $25.6 billion.