Australia is among the few countries globally that has been successful in combating the COVID-19 outbreak so far. With the government now easing lockdown restrictions, a rise in consumer and commercial spending is expected, which in turn will drive card payments, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData revised forecasts, the value of card payments in Australia is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.0% between 2019 and 2024 while there will be a decline of 3.5% in ATM cash withdrawals over the same period.

Australia has been gradually recovering from the outbreak with number of active cases at 382 as of 15 June 2020 – much lower compared to other developed nations like the US, the UK, Germany and France. Its pacific counterpart, New Zealand has also performed well in this regard with the country announcing itself as ‘Corona-free’ on 8 June 2020.

Ravi Sharma, Banking and Payments Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The Australian economy has had a torrid year, with the COVID-19 pandemic happening as the country was recovering from widespread bushfires. With the government now gradually opening the country from lockdown, a revival in the economy is expected, which in turn will provide much needed push to the payments market.”

The growth in card payments will also be driven by rise in contactless payments. Australia is one of the most developed contactless card markets in the world with majority of the consumers using contactless cards. As a result of Coronavirus pandemic, the use of contactless cards is expected to increase as even smaller merchants are now insisting on non-cash and contactless payments.

Sharma concludes: “Australia is a well-developed payment market with robust payment infrastructure, high banked population, and high usage of contactless payments. While payments market growth was hampered by recent COVID-19 outbreak, it is expected to revive with the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions.”