Merchants Spending Using U.S. Cards $6.7 Trillion
Credit, debit, and prepaid cards issued in the United States generated $6.699 trillion in purchase volume (spending for goods and services) in 2018, according to The Nilson Report, the leading card and mobile payment trade publication.
Credit cards accounted for 54.90% of all purchase volume, down from 55.07% in 2017. Debit and prepaid card market share was 45.10%, up from 44.93% the prior year. Debit cards gained market share for the first time since 2011.
The top 10 issuers based on combined purchase volume remained in the same position in 2018 compared to 2017. JPMorgan Chase continued as the largest issuer of consumer and commercial credit, debit (including EFT network), and prepaid cards with a combined purchase volume of $1.064 trillion in 2018. It was the first payment card issuer whose customers generated more than $1 trillion in spending in one year.
Heavily used for shopping online and even as a means of making an online casino deposit, American Express remained the largest issuer based on credit card purchase volume, followed by JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Capital One in the top five. Wells Fargo was the largest issuer based on debit, followed by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, and U.S. Bank. The largest prepaid card issuer was The Bancorp Bank, followed by MetaBank, Green Dot, Comerica Bank, and JPMorgan Chase.
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