I’ve an absurd variety of bank cards. Most I by no means use, however as a result of common credit score account age is a vital think about credit score rating calculations, I’m very reluctant to cancel any. 

Trying by my card pile not too long ago, I used to be shocked by the variety of totally different bank card issuers represented. Most belonged to one in all two main fee networks — Mastercard and Visa, which personal a lot of the U.S. bank card market — however there have been almost a dozen banks in there too, from large names like JPMorgan Chase and Capital One to locals you’ve in all probability by no means heard of.

This train acquired me interested by bank card market dynamics extra usually. Which fee processors and issuers have the largest market share, and what sort of transaction volumes do they course of annually? So I dove into the numbers with Cash Crashers knowledge analyst Jonathon Watterson.

Right here’s what we discovered.

U.S. Credit score Card Market Share by Fee Processor: 2021 Knowledge

First, whole U.S. market share for the 4 fee processors working on this nation.

You possibly can see that Visa has by far the largest market share, with 61.6% in 2021. That’s greater than double its closest rival, Mastercard, with 25.7%.

Then once more, with 87.3% of whole U.S. bank card market share in 2021, Visa and Mastercard successfully have a duopoly right here. That’s when two firms management the overwhelming majority of a selected market.

American Categorical takes a lot of the the rest: 10.5% in 2021. Uncover is a distant fourth with 2.2%. 

Are Amex and Uncover Losing Their Promoting {Dollars}?

It appears notable that each American Categorical and Uncover appear outmaneuvered by Visa and Mastercard regardless of promoting closely in america.

Are they losing their advert {dollars}?

Not precisely. American Categorical and Uncover are uncommon examples — the one two in america, actually — of bank card fee processors that additionally problem their very own bank cards. In different phrases, they’re each fee processors (or fee networks when you want) and bank card issuers.

Against this, Visa and Mastercard are fee processors solely. They function the networks that actually a whole bunch of bank card issuers (banks and different chartered monetary establishments) depend on to execute transactions. In flip, they depend on all these issuers for income. 

Of the 2 different fee processors, American Categorical has its hand in each pies. It operates the community its personal playing cards run on and likewise supplies community providers to different issuers, a few of which use a couple of fee processor. For instance, the U.S. Financial institution FlexPerks Gold American Categorical Card runs on the Amex community, whereas the U.S. Financial institution Money+ Visa Signature Card runs on the Visa community.

Uncover is extra of its personal factor, a self-contained bank card ecosystem. Relatedly, it’s not accepted by as many retailers as Visa or Mastercard, particularly abroad, although its protection has gotten higher not too long ago.

U.S. Fee Processor Market Share Since 2007

Visa has lengthy been the highest bank card processor in america, and its market share has solely grown over time. Its share in 2021 (61.6%) is down solely marginally from 2020 (61.8%), which was its high-water mark going again a minimum of to 2007.

Visa gained 8.8% of the U.S. bank card market between 2007 and 2021, or 9% between 2007 and 2020. These beneficial properties got here primarily on the expense of American Categorical, which dropped from a 15.6% share in 2007 to a ten.4% share in 2020 and a ten.5% share in 2021.

Mastercard additionally misplaced market share over the interval, from 28.2% of the U.S. bank card market in 2007 to 25.7% in 2021. Probably the most dramatic transfer got here between 2007 and 2011, when Mastercard hit a collection low of 24.9% market share. It ranged between 24.9% and 26% for the rest of the interval, although the development has been up since 2017, when it bounced off 25%.

In the meantime, Uncover has regularly misplaced market share, dropping from 3.5% in 2007 to 2.2% in 2021. Like Mastercard, Uncover’s low-water mark got here in 2017, when it claimed simply 2% of the U.S. bank card market. Notably, American Categorical claimed 13% of the market in 2017, towards 10.5% in 2021, so it has been on a downtrend as its three opponents ascend.

International Credit score Card Market Share: Visa, UnionPay, Mastercard & The Relaxation

As in america, the worldwide bank card market is dominated by a handful of bank card processors.

The largest continues to be Visa, however with solely 40% of the worldwide market. The following greatest isn’t Mastercard however UnionPay, a China-based fee processor that dominates monetary transactions in a lot of the Jap Hemisphere. UnionPay has 32% of the worldwide bank card market.

Then comes Mastercard, with 24%. “The remainder,” together with Amex and Uncover, account for simply 4% of whole world bank card transaction volumes.

U.S. Market Share by Credit score Card Issuer

Lastly, let’s take a look at how the highest seven main U.S. bank card issuers share the market right here. Bear in mind, excluding American Categorical and Uncover, these are banks with their very own branded bank cards, not fee processing networks. 

Some are among the many largest banks in each america and the world, together with JPMorgan Chase, Financial institution of America, and Citibank. Others are homegrown establishments that roughly restrict their actions to america, together with Uncover and Capital One.

We don’t have actual market share percentages for these issuers as a result of the U.S. issuer market is so fragmented. Actually, a whole bunch of banks problem their very own branded bank cards, and whereas solely a pair dozen have any important market share, we’d want a extra complete knowledge set to present you correct figures. However relaxation assured that these seven issuers characterize an enormous chunk of the U.S. bank card market.