Gross dollar volume during the first quarter grew at its fastest pace in more than five years. The four major U.S. card networks handled nearly $684 billion in purchase and cash advance volume from their credit and signature debit cards during 1Q/06, a 13.6% increase over the prior year. Testament to the current robust economy is that one-year ago, U.S. GDV in the first three months of the year increased only 11.5%. Among the major networks, American Express logged the largest increase over 1Q/05, growing 16.7% year-on-year, according to CardData (www.carddata.com). VISA came in second with a 14.4% annual increase in the first quarter.
| Q1 GROSS DOLLAR CHARGE VOLUME |
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| (VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) |
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| 2002: | $434.8 billion | +10.3% |
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| 2003: | $476.2 billion | + 9.5% |
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| 2004: | $539.8 billion | +13.4% |
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| 2005: | $602.1 billion | +11.5% |
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| 2006: | $683.8 billion | +13.6% |
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| Source: CardData (www.carddata.com) |
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