Fifth Edition

Largest
Payment Card Issuers
and Merchant Acquirers

Worldwide
a 2013 Nilson Report Publication

HSN Consultants Inc. 2013 THE NILSON REPORT, www.nilsonreport.com/largestissuers. Reproducing

or allowing reproduction or dissemination of any portion of this document in any manner is a copyright
violation subject to substantial fines.

Table of Contents
WORLDWIDE
Global Overview...................................................................................... 5
Purchase Transactions at Merchants 2011 vs. 2010.................... 5
Global Cards 2011................................................................................... 5
Global General Purpose Cards 2011 vs. 2010............................... 5

Total Volume, Purchase Volume, Cash Volume, Total Transactions,

Purchase Transactions, Cards

Global Debit & Prepaid Cards 2011..................................................... 6

Purchase Transactions on Global Cards 2011................................... 7

Change in Market Share in Basis Points 2011 vs. 2010

Credit Card Brands, Debit Card Brands

Global Credit Cards 2011....................................................................... 7

Top 300 Issuers Worldwide 2011 ........................................................ 8

Ranked by General Purpose Purchase Volume All Cards

Top 150 Credit Card Issuers Worldwide 2011.................................10

Ranked by General Purpose Credit Card Purchase Volume

Top 150 Debit Card Issuers Worldwide 2011..................................11

Ranked by General Purpose Debit Card Purchase Volume

Largest Credit Card Portfolios Worldwide by Country 2011.......12

Largest Maestro Issuers Worldwide 2011........................................13

Ranked by Purchase Volume

Top 150 Acquirers Worldwide 2011..................................................14

Ranked by General Purpose Card Purchase Transactions

ASIA/PACIFIC
Asia/Pacific General Purpose Cards..................................................15
Asia/Pacific Purchase Volume 2011 vs. 2007..................................15

Asia/Pacific General Purpose Cards 2011 vs. 2010....................15

China UnionPay, Visa, MasterCard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club

Total Volume, Purchase Volume, Cash Volume, Total Transactions,
Purchase Transactions, Cards

Asia/Pacific Top Card Issuers...............................................................16

Top 36 Debit Card Issuers in Asia/Pacific 2011...............................17
Top 50 Credit Card Issuers in Asia/Pacific 2011..............................17
Top 50 General Purpose/Visa/MasterCard Card Issuers 2011.....18
Top 147 Issuers in 22 Countries, General Purpose & V/MC ........19
Asia/Pacific Issuers by Country, Credit vs. Debit 2011..................22
Asia/Pacific Top 20 Acquirers 2011...................................................26

CANADA
Canada Cards..........................................................................................27
Purchase Volume Market Shares 2011 vs. 2001.............................27
Canada General Purpose Cards 2011 vs. 2010............................27

Visa, Interac, MasterCard, American Express

Total Volume, Purchase Volume, Cash Volume, Total Transactions,
Purchase Transactions, Cards

Top 22 Visa & MasterCard Issuers in Canada 2011........................28

EUROPE
Europe General Purpose Cards..........................................................29
Purchase Volume Market Shares 2011.............................................29
Europe General Purpose Cards 2011 vs. 2010............................29

Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club

Total Volume, Purchase Volume, Cash Volume, Total Transactions,
Purchase Transactions, Cards

Top 50 Debit Card Issuers in Europe 2011.......................................30

Top 50 Credit Card Issuers in Europe 2011......................................30
Top 50 General Purpose/Visa/MasterCard Card Issuers 2011.....31
Europe Largest Card Issuers................................................................32
Top 238 Issuers in 42 Countries, General Purpose & V/MC.........33
Europe Issuers by Country, Credit vs. Debit 2011..........................38
Europe Largest Merchant Acquirers 2011.......................................45
Europe Top 80 Acquirers 2011...........................................................45

LATIN AMERICA
Latin America General Purpose Cards..............................................47
Purchase Volume 2011 vs. 2001........................................................47
Latin America General Purpose Cards 2011 vs. 2010................47

Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club

Total Volume, Purchase Volume, Cash Volume, Total Transactions,
Purchase Transactions, Cards

Top 50 Debit Card Issuers in Latin America 2011..........................48

Top 50 Credit Card Issuers in Latin America 2011.........................48
Top 50 General Purpose/Visa/MasterCard Card Issuers 2011.....49
Latin America Top Card Issuers..........................................................50
Top 148 Issuers in 27 Countries, General Purpose & V/MC ........50
Latin America Issuers by Country, Credit vs. Debit 2011.............54
Latin America Top 35 Acquirers 2011...............................................59

MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
Middle East/Africa General Purpose Cards.....................................60
Purchase Volume 2011 vs. 2001........................................................60
Middle East/Africa General Purpose Cards 2011 vs. 2010 ......60

Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club

Total Volume, Purchase Volume, Cash Volume, Total Transactions,
Purchase Transactions, Cards

Middle East/Africa Top Card Issuers..................................................61

Top 34 Debit Card Issuers in Middle East/Africa 2011..................61
Top 38 Credit Card Issuers in Middle East/Africa 2011.................61
Top 50 General Purpose/Visa/MasterCard Card Issuers 2011.....62
Top 75 Issuers in 24 Countries, General Purpose & V/MC............63
Middle East/Africa Issuers by Country, Credit vs. Debit 2011.....65
Middle East/Africa Top 20 Acquirers 2011......................................68

UNITED STATES
U.S. General Purpose Cards.................................................................69
Purchase Volume Market Shares 2011.............................................69
U.S. General Purpose Cards 2011 vs. 2010...................................69

Visa Credit, American Express Credit, MasterCard Credit, Discover

Credit, Visa Debit & Prepaid, MasterCard Debit & Prepaid,
Total Volume, Purchase Volume, Cash Volume, Total Transactions,
Purchase Transactions, Cards

Top 247 Issuers, General Purpose & V/MC.......................................70

United States Credit vs. Debit 2011..................................................75
Purchase Volume at Merchants 2011...............................................81

Total, Credit, Signature Debit, PIN Debit, Prepaid

U.S. Largest Merchant Acquirers.......................................................83

Top 10 U.S. Merchant Acquirers 2011..............................................83

Ranked by Total Purchase Volume on General Purpose Cards

United States Top 94 Acquirers 2011................................................84

UnionPay, and Visa brands totaled 135.33 billion

for 2011, up 14.56 billion or 12.1% over 2010. These
purchase transactions include commercial and
consumer credit, debit, and prepaid cards. Prepaid
cards are included in debit figures. Visa figures
include both Visa Inc. and Visa Europe.

Purchase Transactions at
Merchants Worldwide (Billions)

50
40

2010

30

2011

While UnionPay had the highest percentage

increase in purchase transactions (up 32.3%), it
only added 1.56 billion transactions compared to
an increase of 8.08 billion for Visa (up 10.2%) and
4.28 billion for MasterCard (up 14.1%).

20
10

Visa Visa
MC
MC Amex CUP CUP
JCB Diners
Debit Credit Credit Debit Credit Credit Debit Credit Credit
2013 The Nilson Report

GLOBAL CARDS 2011

Transactions at merchants on cards carrying the
American Express, Diners Club, JCB, MasterCard,

Debit and prepaid cards accounted for 54.36% of

purchase transactions, up from 53.87% in 2010.
Visa brand purchase transactions were 64.61%
debit, up from 64.31% in 2010. MasterCard
purchase transactions were 40.23% debit, up from
38.45%. UnionPay purchase transactions were

Global General Purpose Cards 2011 vs. 2010

Dollar Volume (bil.)
Brand

Total

Chg.

Purchases

Visa Credit

$2,987.41 11.1% $2,652.32

MasterCard Credit

$2,063.70 13.2% $1,804.00

Transactions (bil.)

Chg.

Cash

Chg.

Total

11.0%

$335.09

11.4%

32.20

Cards

Chg. Purchases Chg.

(mil.)

Chg.

9.2% 30.97

9.2%

869.0

0.4%

21.68 10.6% 20.68 10.8%

705.4

4.1%

97.4

7.0%

13.9%

$259.70

8.7%

American Express Credit

$822.20 13.2%

$808.34

13.3%

$13.86

5.9%

5.33 11.3%

5.24 11.5%

UnionPay Credit

$660.04 57.1%

$636.78

57.5%

$23.26

47.2%

3.43 31.1%

3.31 31.2%

JCB Credit

$165.76 12.7%

$160.12

12.9%

$5.64

6.4%

1.42

6.0%

1.39

6.1%

76.6

4.6%

$27.80

8.5%

$1.48

2.4%

0.18

6.1%

0.17

6.6%

5.9

3.1%

$6,728.38 15.3% $6,089.36

15.8%

$639.02

11.1%

64.24 10.8% 61.76 10.9% 2,039.3

4.9%

74.34

6.1%

Diners Club Credit

CREDIT CARD TOTALS

$29.27

7.9%

285.0 24.1%

Visa Debit & Prepaid

$5,408.79 12.3% $2,723.79

12.1% $2,685.00

12.5%

UnionPay Debit

$2,082.91 40.1% $1,721.66

41.9%

$361.25

32.1%

20.4%

$558.90

22.7%

18.08 19.3% 13.92 19.4%

97.68 12.4% 73.57 13.1% 4,497.7 16.1%

MasterCard Debit & Prepaid $1,184.90 21.5%

$626.00

DEBIT CARD TOTALS

$8,676.60 19.2% $5,071.44

21.8% $3,605.16

15.7%

Visa Total

$8,396.20 11.9% $5,376.11

11.6% $3,020.09

12.4% 106.54

MasterCard Total
VISA & MC TOTALS
UnionPay Total

$3,248.60 16.1% $2,430.00

$11,644.80 13.0% $7,806.11
$2,742.95 43.9% $2,358.43

CREDIT & DEBIT TOTALS $15,404.98 17.5% $11,160.80

$818.60

15.5%

12.8% $3,838.69
$384.51

45.8%

18.5% $4,244.18

9.8% 56.55 10.7% 1,479.7

5.27 29.3%

3.10 33.4% 2,664.0 21.9%

354.0 19.9%

9.6% 87.52 10.2% 2,348.7

3.9%

39.76 14.4% 34.60 14.1% 1,059.4

8.9%

13.5% 146.30 10.9% 122.12 11.3% 3,408.1

5.4%

17.9%
32.9%

8.69 30.0%

6.41 32.3% 2,949.0 22.1%

15.0% 161.93 11.7% 135.33 12.1% 6,537.0 12.4%

Includes all consumer and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid cards. Some prior year figures have been restated. Currency figures are in U.S. dollars. Change
figures for dollar volume reflect a year-over-year comparison in local currency. Visa includes the sum of Visa Europe and Visa Inc. and includes Visa, Visa Electron,
and Interlink brands. The Visa card figure excludes Plus-only cards (with no Visa logo). MasterCard excludes Maestro and Cirrus figures. American Express
includes figures for third-party issuers. JCB figures include third-party issuers and other payment related products. Some figures are estimates. Diners Club
figures are for the 12 months ended Nov. 30, 2011.
2013 The Nilson Report
THE NILSON REPORT

LARGEST PAYMENT CARD ISSUERS WORLDWIDE

2013 HSN Consultants, Inc. THE NILSON REPORT All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or allowing reproduction or dissemination of any portion of this publication in any manner for any purpose
is strictly prohibited and may violate the intellectual property rights of HSN Consultants, Inc. d/b/a The Nilson Report.

Global Overview

 2013 HSN Consultants, Inc. THE NILSON REPORT All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or allowing reproduction or dissemination of any portion of this publication in any manner for any purpose
is strictly prohibited and may violate the intellectual property rights of HSN Consultants, Inc. d/b/a The Nilson Report.

48.40% debit, up from 48.00%.

The number of credit, debit,
and prepaid cards in circulation
reached 6.54 billion at the end of
2011, up 12.4% or 718.7 million.
UnionPay added the most cards
(534.0 million) for a 22.1%
increase. Visa followed with an
increase of 88.5 million cards,
up 3.9%. MasterCard added
86.4 million cards, up 8.9%,
JCB added 3.3 million cards, up
4.6%, American Express added
6.4 million cards, up 7.0%, and
Diners Club added 0.2 million
cards, up 3.1%.

and MasterCards was 7.87%.

Debit cards increased by 622.6
million compared to a 96.1
million increase for credit cards.
The largest contributor to the
increase in debit cards was
UnionPay (up 478.6 million),
followed by Visa (up 85.4
million), and MasterCard (up
58.7 million).
Debit cards accounted for
63.00% of Visas card base, up
from 61.69%. For MasterCard,
33.41% were debit, up from
30.35%. For UnionPay, 90.34%
were debit, down from 90.49%.

Global Debit & Prepaid Cards

Visa
Category

2011

MasterCard
Chg.

Transactions per Card

50.2
3.5%
Purchase Trans.
38.2
4.3%
as Percent of Total 76.1% 0.6 pt.
Cash Transactions
12.0
0.9%
as Percent of Total 23.9% 0.6 pt.
Avg. Amt. per Trans.
$73
2.3%
Average Purch. Amt.
$48
1.3%
Average Cash Amt.
$151
5.1%
Total Volume per Card $3,655
5.9%
Purchase Volume
$1,841
5.7%
as Percent of Total 50.4% 0.1 pt.
Cash Volume
$1,815
6.0%
as Percent of Total 49.6% 0.1 pt.

2011

Chg.

51.1 0.5%
39.3 0.4%
77.0% 0.1 pt.
11.7 0.7%
23.0% 0.1 pt.
$66
1.8%
$45
0.8%
$134
3.2%
$3,347
1.3%
$1,768
0.4%
52.8% 0.5 pt.
$1,579
2.4%
47.2% 0.5 pt.

UnionPay
2011

Chg.

2.0
6.1%
1.2
9.4%
58.9% 1.8 pts.
0.8
1.7%
41.1% 1.8 pts.
$395
8.3%
$555
6.4%
$167
6.5%
$782 14.9%
$646 16.4%
82.7% 1.1 pts.
$136
8.3%
17.3% 1.1 pts.

2013 The Nilson Report

UnionPay accounted for 45.11%

of cards in circulation, up from
41.51%, followed by Visa with
35.93%, down from 38.85%,
MasterCard with 16.21%, down
from 16.72%, American Express
with 1.49%, down from 1.56%,
JCB with 1.17%, down from
1.26%, and Diners Club with
0.09%, down from 0.10%.
Of the payment cards in
circulation carrying these global
brands, 68.80% were debit,
up from 66.60%. UnionPays
share of debit cards was
59.23%, Visas was 32.90%,
THE NILSON REPORT

Total volume of consumer and

commercial purchases and cash
on these global card brands,
credit and debit cards combined,
increased by $2.295 trillion
in 2011. Visa and MasterCard
generated 75.59% of total
volume, down from 78.59% in
2010.
In 2011 purchase volume for
goods and services, which
excludes cash advances
on credit cards and cash
withdrawals on debit cards,
increased by $1.740 trillion or
18.5%. Visa and MasterCard

purchases accounted for $70 of

every $100 in purchase volume,
compared to $73 the prior year.
Visa cards generated $48 of
every $100, down from $51.
Of Visas purchase volume,
50.66% came from debit cards,
an increase from 50.41% in 2010.
For MasterCard, debit cards
accounted for 25.76%, up from
24.72%. For UnionPay, debit
cards accounted for 73.00%,
down from 75.00%.
When comparing purchase
volume on credit cards only,
Visas share dropped 188 basis
points, from 45.44% to 43.56%.
MasterCards share fell 50 basis
points, from 30.12% to 29.63%.
American Expresss share
dropped 29 basis points, from
13.56% to 13.27%. UnionPays
share increased by 277 basis
points, from 7.69% to 10.46%.
JCBs share declined by 7 basis
points, from 2.70% to 2.63%, and
Diners Clubs share fell 3 basis
points, from 0.49% to 0.46%.
When comparing purchase
volume on debit cards only,
Visas market share was down
465 basis points, from 58.36%
to 53.71%, UnionPays share
increased by 481 basis points,
from 29.14% to 33.95%, and
MasterCards share fell 15 basis
points, from 12.50% to 12.34%.
Worldwide purchase volume on
UnionPay debit cards was up
41.9% to $1.722 trillion and its
credit card purchase volume was
up 57.5% to $636.78 billion.
Cash volume on all credit,
debit, and prepaid cards with
global brands the combined
advances against lines of credit
and withdrawals from funds on
deposit increased by $554.12
billion. For Visa, cash accounted
for 35.97% of total volume, up
from 35.80%. For MasterCard,
cash accounted for 25.20%, up
from 24.81%. For UnionPay, cash
accounted for 14.02%, down
LARGEST PAYMENT CARD ISSUERS WORLDWIDE

Express brands generated

36.78% of their total credit card
purchase volume worldwide,
down from 37.65% in 2010.

Purchase Transactions
on Global Cards 2011
Brand

For American Express, the

percent change in credit card
purchase volume was slightly
greater on cards issued inside
the U.S. (13.4%) than on
those issued outside the U.S.
(13.2%). However, the number
of American Express cards in
circulation outside the U.S.
increased by 4.7 million, while
the number circulating in the
U.S. increased by 1.7 million.
The purchase volume per card
issued outside the U.S. was
$5,731, up 1.8%, while the
purchase volume per U.S. card
was $10,675, up 9.6%.

Credit Cards

Chg. in
Share Basis Pts.

Visa
50.1% 75
MasterCard 33.5% 1
Amex
8.5%
5
UnionPay
5.4% 83
2.3% 10
JCB
Diners
0.3% 1

61.76 bil.

Debit Cards Chg. in

Brand

Share Basis Pts.

Visa
76.9% 165
MasterCard 18.9% 101
UnionPay
4.2% 64

73.57 bil.

per credit card issued outside

the U.S. was $2,447 in 2011,
up 12.2%, while the purchase
volume per U.S. credit card
issued was $2,891, up 3.1%.
For Visa, the percent change
in credit card purchase volume
was also greater on cards issued
outside the U.S. (up 11.7%) than
those issued inside the U.S. (up
9.7%). The number of Visa credit
cards in circulation increased
by 9.0 million outside the U.S.
compared to a 5.9 million card
decline inside the U.S. However,
the purchase volume per credit
card issued outside the U.S. was
$2,779 in 2011, up 10.1%, while
the purchase volume per U.S.
credit card issued was $3,793 in
2011, up 12.5%.

For MasterCard, the percent

change in credit card purchase
volume was significantly
greater on cards issued outside
the U.S. (up 17.3%) than those
issued inside the U.S. (up 6.1%).
The number of MasterCard
credit cards in circulation
increased by 22.7 million outside
the U.S. compared to a 5.0
million card increase inside
the U.S. The purchase volume

2013 The Nilson Report

3.60%. For Diners Club, cash

accounted for 5.05%, down from
5.58%. For American Express,
cash accounted for 1.69%, down
from 1.80%.
Credit cards issued to U.S.
cardholders with the Visa,
MasterCard, and American

Global Credit Cards

Category

Trans. per Card

Purchase Trans.
as % of Total
Cash Trans.
as % of Total
Avg. Amt. per Trans.
Avg. Purch. Amt.
Avg. Cash Amt.
Total Vol. per Card
Purch. Volume
as % of Total
Cash Volume
as % of Total

Visa

2011

37.1
35.6
96.2%
1.4
3.8%
$93
$86
$272
$3,438
$3,052
88.8%
$386
11.2%

Chg.

MasterCard
2011

Chg.

Amer. Express
2011

Chg.

8.9%
30.7 6.2%
54.7 4.0%
8.8%
29.3 6.5%
53.8 4.1%
0.0 pt. 95.4% 0.2 pt. 98.4% 0.2 pt.
9.4%
1.4 1.7%
0.9 5.2%
0.0 pt.
4.6% 0.2 pt.
1.6% 0.2 pt.
1.7%
$95 2.4%
$154 1.7%
1.6%
$87 2.8%
$154 1.7%
1.5%
$259 2.8%
$160 4.4%
10.7% $2,926 8.8% $8,441 5.8%
10.6% $2,557 9.4% $8,299 5.9%
0.0 pt. 87.4% 0.5 pt. 98.3% 0.1 pt.
11.0%
$368 4.5%
$142 1.0%
0.0 pt. 12.6% 0.5 pt.
1.7% 0.1 pt.

UnionPay

2011

Chg.

12.0
11.6
96.5%
0.4
3.5%
$193
$192
$195
$2,316
$2,234
96.5%
$82
3.5%

5.6%
5.7%
0.1 pt.
3.3%
0.1 pt.
19.8%
20.0%
14.8%
26.5%
26.9%
0.2 pt.
18.6%
0.2 pt.

2011

JCB

Chg.

Diners Club

2011

Chg.

18.6 1.4%
29.6 3.0%
18.2 1.5%
28.2 3.4%
97.7% 0.1 pt. 95.2% 0.5 pt.
0.4 3.2%
1.4 5.9%
2.3% 0.1 pt.
4.8% 0.5 pt.
$117 6.3%
$166 1.7%
$115 6.4%
$166 1.8%
$174 5.1%
$175 0.6%
$2,165 7.8% $4,924 4.7%
$2,091 8.0% $4,676 5.3%
96.6% 0.2 pt. 95.0% 0.5 pt.
$74 1.8%
$249 5.3%
3.4% 0.2 pt.
5.0% 0.5 pt.

2013 The Nilson Report

THE NILSON REPORT

LARGEST PAYMENT CARD ISSUERS WORLDWIDE

2013 HSN Consultants, Inc. THE NILSON REPORT All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or allowing reproduction or dissemination of any portion of this publication in any manner for any purpose
is strictly prohibited and may violate the intellectual property rights of HSN Consultants, Inc. d/b/a The Nilson Report.

from 15.18%. For JCB, cash

accounted for 3.40%, down from