Visa, UnionPay and Mastercard cards - most used in global transactions

The American financial-banking company Visa holds the supremacy in the card payment market, with a volume of 267 billion transactions in 2023, according to Statista data, taken by visualcapitalist.com.

According to the cited source, card payment services tend to be imagined as a duopoly between US giants Visa and Mastercard, but China's UnionPay, founded in 2002, surpassed Mastercard in terms of transaction volume as of 2017.

In 2023, UnionPay card transactions stood at 228 billion, while Mastercard card transactions reached 171 billion. The figures include both credit and debit card transactions.

According to Retail Banking Research, UnionPay has surpassed both Visa and Mastercard in total payment value. UnionPay's biggest market is China, where it is the only interbank network (connecting all ATMs), according to the source cited. It should also be noted that the majority of UnionPay transactions are debit card transactions, although its credit card products are growing rapidly.

Meanwhile, up-and-coming fintech competitors like PayPal and Apple Pay have turned to Visa and Mastercard collaborators in a bid to secure a place in the massive and lucrative digital payments industry.

One reason for this transformation is the scale of Visa and Mastercard's infrastructure. As the Motley Fool writes, the two card giants built the payments world's "highway" and now charge a fee every time a transaction is made. And it is the amount of the tax that can make the difference in market share, according to the source mentioned. For example, American Express cards are less popular due to higher merchant fees, which limits their acceptance.

• Spherical Insights & Consulting: Global Credit Card Market Estimated at $1.1 Trillion in 2033

The global credit card market was valued at $559.18 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $1,146.62 billion in 2033, based on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.45% during the review period, according to a research report published by Spherical Insights & Consulting, picked up by globenewswire.com.

The report anticipates that the general purpose credit card segment will hold the largest share of the global credit card market by 2033. At the same time, the food segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate in the global credit card market in the mentioned time interval.

The report notes that North America is expected to hold the largest share of the global credit card market during the review period due to the prominent profile service providers it has. In addition, the world is increasingly interested in simple and fast ways to make payments. As a result, the sector under review is growing due to advancements in payment processing technology, such as the increasing acceptance of contactless and mobile wallet payments.

According to the report, Europe will grow at the fastest pace in the global credit card market during the time frame under review. The evolution is due to the growth of loyalty programs, the expansion of reward points for credit card payments offered by companies, but also based on the trend of expanding the use of credit cards among young people in developed countries.