The payments landscape is transforming at pace. From contactless terminals to cross-border transactions, the way consumers use their cards is continuing to evolve rapidly as they seek greater convenience in their payment methods.
Contactless Payments Surge Worldwide
Contactless payments are surging globally. In 2024, 23% of all card spending was contactless (up from 18% in 2023), totalling US$10.4 trillion across 456.6 billion transactions. That represents 42% of all card payments worldwide.
Europe leads the charge: 71% of transactions there were contactless in 2024. The Americas follows at 36%. Growth is being driven by improvements in acceptance infrastructure, growing use of digital wallets, and contactless transit rollouts. The number of contactless transactions is forecast to surpass a trillion by 2030.
E-commerce Drives Card Payment Growth
Online card spending reached almost US$13 trillion in 2024, with over 200 billion transactions. The share of e-commerce within total card volume increased from 26% to 28% in just one year.
Credit cards are used more commonly online than debit or prepaid cards. E-commerce accounts for 34% of total credit expenditure, and this share is forecast to rise to 45% by 2030. Growth is being fuelled by increasing uptake of cards for subscriptions and livestreaming sales, as well as rising internet and smartphone penetration.
The Americas shows the highest e-commerce penetration, driven by the mass adoption of cards for online purchases.
International Card Activity Rebounds Strongly
Outbound cross-border volume grew by 21% in 2024 to reach US$4 trillion globally. Most of this spend occurred on debit cards, which accounted for 52% of cross-border volume.
Europe shows the highest cross-border penetration, thanks to trade and tourism links within the Schengen Area and EEA. The Americas lags as tourism in major markets, such as the U.S. and Brazil, remains largely domestic. The share of cross-border out of total volume is forecast to rise from 9% in 2024 to 16% by 2030.
Merchant Acceptance Continues to Expand
Card acceptance infrastructure continues to grow worldwide. There were
nearly 180 million EFTPOS terminals installed in 120 million merchant outlets globally at the end of 2024, growth of 11% and 10%, respectively, over the year.
Growth is being driven by customer demand, government mandates to accept card payments, and improving digital infrastructure. mPOS and softPOS acceptance is also growing amongst smaller merchants and in rural areas, where technical infrastructure limits traditional terminal deployment. Notably, 89% of terminals now accept contactless payments, and by 2030 contactless acceptance will be almost universal.
Cards Dominate Cashless Transactions, but Most Volume Comes from Credit Transfers
Payment cards accounted for almost two-thirds of the 1.7 trillion cashless payment transactions worldwide in 2024. However, they accounted for a much smaller share of cashless volume because cards are increasingly being used for every day, low-value payments in all regions.
Credit transfers, by contrast, accounted for 30% of cashless transactions but 89% of spending, as they are typically used for high-value business-to-business payments. In Europe, there is also a rising trend toward instant credit transfers for person-to-merchant payments.
Innovation: The Key to Payment Success
As payment preferences continue to evolve, the infrastructure supporting card payments must keep pace with consumer needs. The message is clear: Innovation in payments is accelerating, and those who stay abreast will succeed while others stand still.
To dive deeper into these trends and find out more about our research, click here or contact Daniel Dawson at [email protected].
