CARPINTERIA, Calif.– Global card purchase volume for goods and services, which excludes cash advances on credit cards and cash withdrawals on debit cards, grew by 5.8% to $20.606 trillion in 2016, according to The Nilson Report.
UnionPay debit cards were the most popular payment product based on purchase volume, followed by Visa credit cards, Visa debit cards, UnionPay credit cards, Mastercard credit cards, Mastercard debit cards, American Express cards, JCB cards, and Diners Club/Discover cards, the company reported.
Visa, UnionPay, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club/Discover, and American Express brand general purpose cards generated 257.17 billion purchase transactions at merchants in 2016, an increase of 13.3% — 30.21 billion more than in 2015. These transactions included all commercial and consumer credit, debit, and prepaid cards, the Nilson Report said.
Visa cards generated 54.06% of all purchase transactions on general purpose cards worldwide. Debit cards with the Visa brand continued to account for the most purchase transactions with a share of 34.82%, followed by Visa credit cards with 19.23%. Mastercard debit cards had a 13.30% share, overtaking Mastercard credit cards with a 12.87% share, according to the Nilson Report.
UnionPay credit cards had a 7.59% share, and UnionPay debit cards had a 7.32% share. American Express had a 2.81% share, followed by JCB cards with 1.15% and Diners Club/Discover cards with 0.91%.
"When consumers worldwide reach into their wallets for a payment card, more than half of the time, they use a Visa card,” said David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report.
UnionPay had the largest percentage increase in purchase transactions. Combined, UnionPay credit and debit card purchase transactions at merchants grew 32.0% in 2016.
Debit and prepaid cards accounted for 55.44% of purchase transactions, up from 54.64% in 2015. Visa purchase transactions were 64.42% debit, up from 63.91%. Mastercard purchase transactions were 50.82% debit, up from 49.99%. UnionPay purchase transactions were 49.08% debit, up from 46.90%, the Nilson Report data show.
The company further found that credit, debit, and prepaid cards in circulation worldwide totaled 11.15 billion at the end of 2016, up 9.4% over 2015. Of the total cards in circulation, 77.37% were debit, up from 75.89%. Debit cards in circulation grew by 894.8 million compared to a 67.1 million increase for credit cards. UnionPay added the most cards (683.0 million), an increase of 12.6%, while JCB had the second highest percentage increase in cards (up 10.1%), adding 9.4 million cards. Visa added 141.4 million cards (up 4.8%), Mastercard added 136.9 million cards (up 8.9%), American Express had a reduction of 7.9 million cards (down 6.7%), and Diners Club/Discover declined by 1.0 million cards (down 1.7%).