Visa: Debits Exceeds Credits for First Time.

Visa Inc. has announced that spending on Visa debit cards in the U.S. has surpassed credit for the first time in the company's history.

For the period ending December 31, 2008, debit payments volume was $206 billion, compared with credit payments volume of $203 billion.

The company said that debit transactions were nearly 70 percent of U.S. transactions for the same time period, representing an increasingly larger portion of Visa's U.S. transactions.

"In 2002, U.S. Visa debit transactions surpassed credit transactions for the first time, and now payments volume has also exceeded credit. This marks an important achievement for Visa, as we continue to …