Cards and Payments Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the cards and payments market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global cards and payments market reached a value of nearly $989.8 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.81% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $989.8 billion in 2023 to $1.54 trillion in 2028 at a rate of 9.31%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.31% from 2028 and reach $2.41 trillion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from increase in the adoption of EMV technology, strong economic growth in emerging markets, increase in consumer preference for credit cards due to additional benefits, increased internet penetration. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were lack of security in digital payments.

Going forward, rising penetration of e-commerce, increasing government support, increasing digital platforms, rising urbanization will drive the growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the cards and payments market in the future include increase in credit card fraud.

The cards and payments market is segmented by type into cards and payments. The payments market was the largest segment of the cards and payments market segmented by type, accounting for 68.5% or $678.42 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the payments segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the cards and payments market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 9.88% during 2023-2028.

The cards market is segmented by type into credit card, debit card, charge card and prepaid card. The credit card market was the largest segment of the cards market segmented by type, accounting for 57.8% or $180.01 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the prepaid card segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the cards market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 13.59% during 2023-2028.

The cards and payments market is segmented by application into banking, financial services and insurance, healthcare, IT and telecom, retail and e-commerce, media and entertainment, transportation and other applications. The Banking, Financial Services and Insurance market was the largest segment of the cards and payments market segmented by application, accounting for 23.3% or $230.33 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the retail & e-commerce segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the cards and payments market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 10.79% during 2023-2028.

The cards and payments market is segmented by institution type into banking institutions and non-banking institutions. The banking institution market was the largest segment of the cards and payments market segmented by institution type, accounting for 71% or $702.91 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the non-banking institutions segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the cards and payments market segmented by institution type, at a CAGR of 10.21% during 2023-2028.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the cards and payments market, accounting for 38.9% or $385.4 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Western Europe, North America and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the cards and payments market will be Africa and Middle East where growth will be at CAGRs of 20% and 12.4% respectively. These will be followed by Asia Pacific and South America where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 11.1% and 8.8% respectively.

The global cards and payments market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of small players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 18.89% of the total market in 2022. The market fragmentation can be attributed to the presence of large number of players in different geographies. American Express was the largest competitor with a 5.18% share of the market, followed by Visa Inc. with 4.72%, PayPal Holdings, Inc. with 2.80%, Mastercard Incorporated with 2.47%, Citigroup Inc. with 0.99%, Bank of America Corporation with 0.96%, Barclays PLC with 0.54%, JPMorgan Chase & Co. with 0.49%, Wells Fargo & Company with 0.48% and Agricultural Bank of China with 0.25%.

Market-trend-based strategies for the cards and payments market include increased focus on credit card platforms,use of artificial intelligence (AI) to prevent fraud in the payments sector, increasing adoption of contactless payments, launch of technologically advanced payment devices, new product launches with focus on virtual cards and integration of payment networks.

Player-adopted strategies in the cards and payments market include focus on strengthening its commercial payment business through innovative products and payment solutions, focus on strengthening its cards and payment business through strategic acquisitions.

The top opportunities in the cards and payments market segmented by type will arise in the payments segment, which will gain $408.3 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the cards market segmented by type will arise in the credit card segment, which will gain $83 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the cards and payments market segmented by institution type will arise in the banking institution segment, which will gain $375.6 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the cards and payments market segmented by application will arise in the banking, financial services and insurance segment, which will gain $144.5 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The cards and payments market size will gain the most in China at $99.5 billion.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the cards and payments companies to increase focus on credit card platforms, focus on expanding contactless payment solutions, focus on strategic product launches, focus on ai-based fraud prevention for enhanced payments security, focus on fastest-growing non-banking segment, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, focus on diversified distribution channels, provide competitively priced offerings, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions, optimize digital marketing initiatives, cultivate strategic partnerships for coordinated promotions, focus on retail & e-commerce and banking & financial services segments and focus on customer-centric strategies for targeting end-users.