LONDON The number of payment cards worldwide increased by 12% in 2012 to reach a landmark 10 billion, according to a new report from specialist research and consulting firm RBR.
The company’s latest report, “Global Payment Cards Data and Forecasts 2012-2018,” said those 10 billion cards in circulation worldwide corresponds to an average of 2.3 cards per adult, but this varies from fewer than two in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) and central and eastern Europe (CEE) to six in North America, it said. As the banked population grows in developing markets card numbers will increase rapidly, RBR predicted. The new research forecasts that by 2018 there will be 13.6 billion cards in circulation worldwide.
With a share of 34% of the global card base, the new research indicates that UnionPay extended its lead over the other card associations in 2012 as a result of continuing impressive growth in card numbers in China. UnionPay’s volume and value of payments remains considerably lower than those of Visa and MasterCard, however, owing to low card usage in China, where more than 99% of UnionPay cards are found.
Visa and MasterCard are issued in a much larger number of countries than UnionPay, but in both Asia-Pacific and MEA, Visa and MasterCard brands together account for less than half of cards. In Asia-Pacific this is because of the strength of UnionPay and, to a lesser extent, domestic, private label and JCB cards, while in MEA this is mainly a result of the significant presence of domestic schemes.
The company said 182 billion card payments were made worldwide in 2012, up 10% compared to 2011. Growth in the number of payments is forecast to be faster than that in the card base over the next six years, partly boosted by contactless cards in some markets.
