The China UnionPay debit card was the most popular payment method in 2013 according to The Nilson Report.
China UnionPay surpassed 2012’s leader, Visa, when it came to purchase volume with a 47.19% share of the debit card market. Visa fell second after losing 605 basis points with 40.62%. MasterCard also dropped in placement and lost 133 basis points, resulting in a 12.20% market share.
China UnionPay’s growth did not result in higher placement for credit card transactions, and it remained in 3rd place as it did in 2012 with a 20.39% market share. China UnionPay was surpassed by Visa with 39.22% and MasterCard with 26.08%. American Express came in 4th with 11.79% and a 109 basis point drop. JCB improved by 3 points and reached 2.21% with Diners Club losing 8 points and resulting in a 0.32% market share.
Photo Courtesy of The Nilson Report
In total, purchases for goods and service worldwide grew by 22% resulting in $15.422 trillion dollars spent. When combining the statistics from both credit and debit cards, China UnionPay credit and debit cards surpassed Visa’s, based on bulk purchase volume.
Credit, debit, and prepaid cards in circulation also saw a bump reaching 8.33 billion cards worldwide. A 13.3% (975 million) YOY growth compared to 2012.
Visa credit, debit, and prepaid cards were responsible for over 101 billion Payments , twice as much as MasterCard.
