According to data collected annually by credit card issuers and payment processors, global expenditures using debit and credit cards have increased by 12.1% between 2010 and 2011. The total expenditure documented for 2011 was $135.33 billion, up from $120.77 billion in 2010. The information was released by The Nilson Report in a study entitled Global Credit Card Brands.
Adding to the trend of payment cards' growth is the switching in many countries from cash and check to more modern forms of payment such as credit and debit cards. An interesting part of the study shows that the number of debit, credit and prepaid cards in circulation in 2011 has nearly reached that of human population; the total number of in-circulation cards was shown to be 6.54 billion in 2011.
The biggest growth occurred within UnionPay's system, adding a total of 534 million cards and growing at a rate of 22% this year. Visa came in second with a growth of 89 million cards (4% growth), while MasterCard added approximately 86 million cards (9% growth). JCB, American Express and Diners Club added a cumulative total of approximately 11 cards this year as well.
Card holders in the United States have slowed down in terms of percentage of world expenditure. In 2010, Americans accounted for 37.65% of credit volume while in 2011, they accounted for 36.78%. World purchase volume across all sectors increased by a phenomenal $2.295 trillion between 2010 and 2011.
When it comes to the breakdown of card types, debit rules all. In 2011, debit cards accounted for 68.80% (up from 66.60% in 2010). The data also shows that Visa and MasterCard are slowly losing their dominance on the credit and debit card market. In 2011, Visa and MasterCard purchases made up 70% of all expenditures compared to 73% in 2010.
The Nilson Report collected data from credit card companies as well as cardholders in 90 different countries around the world.