European Card Market 2012 Update

Jan. 24, 2013 - PRLog -- Boston, MA –January 23, 2013—With many European countries deeply mired in economic and financial struggles, the European card market is also feeling the effects of this climate.

The European banking and payments industry faces challenges on multiple fronts. In addition to economic recession, a long list of factors is contributing to the risk faced by banks and payment companies, including continuous regulatory scrutiny of banks’ practices, the slowing credit card industry, uncertainty about SEPA card schemes, and the need to invest, especially in the areas of contactless and mobile payments. Not all banks and payments companies are positioned to address these challenges well;those that cannot stand to lose their market position sooner than they realize.

Mercator Advisory Group’s latest research report, European Card Market 2012 Update, reviews the market, beginning with a discussion of the macroeconomic environment and its implications. An overview of European payment card market developments, market sizes, and major market trends is provided. Select country markets are profiled at a high level. Strategic developments, especially on SEPA-related issues such as new card schemes and interchange, are discussed.

“The European card market is growing, but growth remains weak given the overall situation in the region,” Terry Xie, director of Mercator Advisory Group’s International Advisory Service and principal analyst on the report, commented. “Consumers remain very cautious about spending as the region went back into recession again in 2012. Consumers’ preference for better control of their overall purchases has benefited debit cards, which recorded healthy growth despite the economy. Credit cards are seeing more challenges. The whole European banking and payments industry will need to continue to march forward with emerging payments such as online payments and mobile payments while dealing with economic and regulatory challenges to their revenues.”

Highlights of the research findings include:

The effect of the continuing European economic downturn on consumer spending and the regional payment card market

2012 growth and prospects for the near future

Analysis of Europeans’ use of debit and delayed debit (charge) cards in preference to credit cards

Card payment volume by country and review of the countries with the fastest card payment penetration

Discussion of SEPA schemes and market share of Visa Europe and MasterCard

This report contains 29 pages and 13 exhibits.

Companies and services mentioned in this report include Barclaycard, Deutsche Telecom, European Alliance of Payment Schemes (EAPS), MasterCard, Monnet, Payfair, Telefonia O2, Visa Europe, and Vodafone.

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About Mercator Advisory Group

Mercator Advisory Group is the leading, independent research and advisory services firm exclusively focused on the payments and banking industries. We deliver pragmatic and timely research and advice designed to help our clients uncover the most lucrative opportunities to maximize revenue growth and contain costs. Our clients range from the world's largest payment issuers, acquirers, processors, merchants and associations to leading technology providers and investors. Mercator Advisory Group is also the publisher of the online payments and banking news and information portal PaymentsJournal.com.