These are the findings of the Global Cards annual report, published in the current issue of The Nilson Report, a newsletter covering the card and mobile payment industries.
By comparing credit card purchase volume only, Visas market share of 39.22% was down 262 basis points. MasterCards share dropped 158 basis points to 26.08%. UnionPays share grew by 534 basis points to 20.39%. American Expresss share fell 109 basis points to 11.79%. JCBs share improved by 3 basis points to 2.21%, and Diners Clubs share declined 8 basis points to 0.32%.
By comparing debit card purchase volume only, UnionPays share increased 738 basis points to 47.19%. This gain made UnionPay the largest general purpose debit card issuer based on purchase volume. Visas share fell 605 basis points to 40.62%, and MasterCards share declined by 133 basis points to 12.20%.
Credit, debit, and prepaid cards amounted to 8.33 billion at the end of 2013, up 13.3% or 975 million cards over year-end 2012.
Visa brand credit, debit and prepaid cards initiated more than 101 billion payments at merchants in 2013, more than twice as many transactions as MasterCard, its nearest competitor.
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