MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 31, 2006–U.S. Bank, the leading issuer of Visa Gift Cards in the United States, recently issued its 10 millionth card and expects to surpass 15 million during the 2006 winter holiday season.
“Gift cards are here to stay,” says John Focht, senior product manager of prepaid cards at U.S. Bank. “Since they were first introduced in 2003, we’ve seen dramatic year-over-year growth in U.S. Bank Visa Gift Cards through all of our channels. This is attributable to the fact that gift cards are convenient and valuable to the recipient. We expect the growth to continue for several years to come.”
Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and the summer graduation season continue to be a particularly popular time for gift cards. U.S. Bank saw gift card sales at 86 percent of its branches in May, and it sold 334,781 Visa Gift Cards during the first two weeks of June leading up to Father’s Day.
U.S. Bank issues Visa Gift Cards in 41 states through its 2,430 retail branches and mall partners, including Simon Property Group, Macerich Malls and Crocker Park.
U.S. Bank offers a variety of prepaid cards in addition to gift cards, including payroll cards for employers, Visa Buxx for teenagers, and the ReliaCard for government disbursements, such as child support payments, unemployment compensation and temporary assistance.
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), with assets of $213 billion, is the 6th largest financial holding company in the United States. The company operates 2,434 banking offices and 4,966 ATMs, and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. U.S. Bancorp is the parent company of U.S. Bank. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at http://www.usbank.com.
CONTACT: U.S. Bank Media Relations
Teri Charest, 612-303-0732
teri.charest@usbank.com
