Card payments growth in Australia declines in 2020 due to COVID-19, reveals GlobalData

GlobalData’s Payment Cards Analytics has revealed that the value of card payments in Australia is estimated to register a subdued growth of 1.9% in 2020 against the previous estimate of 5.3%.

According to the press release, the Australian payment card market, which has been on the rise for past few years, registered slowdown in 2020 due to COVID-19 with reduced consumer and commercial spending. However, with gradual recovery in economic activities and growing preference for contactless payments, card payments are expected to rise. Therefore, the growth is expected to improve over the forecast period increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7% between 2020 and 2024 to reach USD 613.6 billion in 2024, Global Data reveals.

Australia is one of the most developed contactless card markets with majority of the consumers using contactless cards. Due to the current pandemic, the use of contactless cards is on the rise as even smaller merchants are now insisting on non-cash and contactless payments. 

To encourage the shift away from cash, the limit for contactless card payment was temporarily increased from USD 70.30 USD 140.59 effective April 2020.Payment companies are also coming out with innovative contactless POS solutions. For instance, in October 2020, Australia-based payment services provider Quest launched Airpay TAP app, which allows merchants to accept contactless card payments on Android devices without the need of additional card readers.