Financial Cards and Payments Market

Introduction

Electronic payment through financial cards and payment systems is on the rise across the world. On account of the convenience and higher availability offered, financial cards and payment systems have witnessed higher penetration in numerous economies across the world. Traditional payment systems such as cash payments, demand drafts and other payment certificates have become obsolete due to technological advancements in financial cards and payment systems.

Through financial cards and payment systems, numerous financial transactions can be executed between entities located anywhere in the world. Financial cards including debit cards, credit cards, charge cards, ATM cards, fleet cards and stored value cards are widely used for different types of financial transactions. Other types of financial cards including Scrip, gift cards and electronic purse have gained popularity and serve to a very niche market. Financial cards are deployed using numerous technologies such as embossing, magnetic stripe cards, smart cards, proximity cards and re-programmable magnetic stripe cards.

Magnetic stripe were highly adopted in the global credit and debit cards due to ineffviciencies in the embossing technology. However, due to factors such as magnetic interference and possibility of damage to the magnetic stripe, the magnetic stripe cards were replaced by other technologies such as smart cards and proximity cards.

The smart card technology uses an integrated circuit chip (ICC) which can process financial transactions with higher efficiency as compared to magnetic stripe cards. Proximity cards are contactless integrated circuit devices which make use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and are powered by resonant energy transfer.

Proximity cards are gaining immense popularity in private payment systems and public transit payments. Financial payment systems include various types of payment methods such as bank transfers, E-wallets, direct debit and other mobile payment solutions. Users across the world make use of such payment systems to electronically transfer cash directly to merchant’s account. Unlike financial cards where the payments takes place through point of sale (PoS) systems, payment systems enable users to authenticate and execute financial transactions over the internet.

One of the major factors driving the growth of financial cards and payments market is the rise of ecommerce. Increasing penetration of online stores for numerous products and services has offered higher accessibility and availability of market places to consumers. Such factors have driven the growth of financial cards and payments systems across the world.

Moreover, benefits such as convenience, security and privacy have further driven the growth of financial cards and payments market. In addition, ongoing collaboration between numerous payment industry participants including merchants’ banks, card issuers and card association network providers has led to development of comprehensive financial payment and transfer solutions.

Increasing penetration of ecommerce and mobile phones across the world has made the financial cards and payment systems lucrative in recent years. Numerous players in these markets seek to reap maximum profits in the developing economies especially in countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).

Some of the key financial cards and payment system providers include Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, RuPay, Amazon Payments, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, PayPoint, TransferWise, DigiCash and 2C2P.

Free analysis

The electronic payment from financial cards and payment systems is gaining popularity across the globe owing to high convenience. Different types of financial cards gaining rapid traction in the market are debit cards, fleet cards, ATM cards, and credit cards. Various highly demanded technologies in the market are magnetic stripe cards, re-programmable magnetic stripe cards, and proximity cards.

Presence of different payment methods in the market that include bank transfers, mobile payments, and e-wallets are propelling the growth of the market ahead. Growing penetration of e-commerce acts as a major growth lever in the market, creating new growth prospects for the service providers.

The increase in the numerous offers provided by the online stores has enhanced the accessibility and availability of various market places which is drawing the consumers towards it. Attributes such as security and privacy are further boosting the market growth rate.

Market participants are collaborating with bank merchants and card association network providers to enhance their global market. Major players are investing in developing economies such as Russia, China, Brazil, and India to reap benefits from the growing markets. Prominent players profiled in the global market are MasterCard, Amazon Payments, Apple Pay, Visa, PayPal,and RuPay.