Personal Credit Cards Around the World

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key findings

Personal credit cards have undergone substantial recent growth

Personal credit cards enjoyed considerable success during the 2018-2023 review period. The combination of markets continuing to switch away from cash payments, as well as companies digitising during the pandemic years has helped fuel a strong credit card market in many markets. At the same time, loyalty features and rewards are enjoying a heyday in a number ofleading markets.

Interchange fees are typically a critical component in credit card adoption and loyalty

Funding loyalty and rewards programmes is an expensive proposition. Most of the strongest programmes exist in markets where interchange fee regulation (the underlying funding for most programmes) is relatively minimal. Markets that implement interchange fee caps are much more likely to see their rewards programmes diminish in effectiveness, and thus undercut one of the primary value propositions of the format.

Clear leaders exist in personal credit cards, but the high degree of risk can complicate the landscape rapidly

Many markets have established strong personal credit card issuing landscapes; however, it is critical to keep risks in peripheral view. Geopolitical risk, for example, has led to a sanctions-induced crippling of the Russian credit card market. Competitive new offerings such as buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) and faster electronic payments also pose threats to established players. Even for those largely escaping these risks, there is the danger of a competitor providing a more compelling offering and seizing top of wallet status.