The Australian credit and charge card market is set to grow by 7.1% in 2024, supported by rising consumer spending. With a strong payment infrastructure and burgeoning e-commerce landscape, credit and charge cards are becoming increasingly favored among Australians, despite looming competition from buy now pay later (BNPL) solutions. This trajectory signifies a pivotal shift in the country’s payment landscape, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s Payment Cards Analytics reveals that credit and charge card payments by value in Australia registered a robust growth of 8.8% in 2023. The value is expected to grow further by 7.1% to reach AUD434.9 billion ($289.0 billion) in 2024.

Ravi Sharma, Lead Banking and Payments Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Australians frequently use credit and charge cards, with the average frequency of card payments per person at 203.8 in 2023, up from 148.4 during pre-COVID-19 pandemic period in 2019. The country’s strong payment infrastructure, high consumer preference for card payments, and merchant acceptance have supported this growth.”

This high credit and charge card usage is driven by a strong POS terminalization. Australia boasts a well-developed payment infrastructure, with strong POS terminal uptake with 37,389 POS terminals per one million individuals in 2023 — higher than its peers China, Hong Kong, and India.

Rising e-commerce payments is also contributing to the growth in credit and charge card usage. According to GlobalData’s 2023 Financial Services Consumer Survey*, credit and charge cards are one of the most preferred payment methods for online payments with 29.2% share in 2023.

Value-added benefits such as reward points, discounts, installment payment facilities, and cashback are driving usage in this space. While the credit and charge card market is on growth trajectory, it is facing threat from growing popularity of buy now pay later (BNPL) solutions such as Afterpay and Klarna.

In a bid to counter the mounting threat from BNPL providers, payment card companies have also started offering pay later services. In February 2023, Westpac launched a service called PartPay enabling customers to pay for purchases across four installments. All major banks are now offering similar services in Australia.

Sharma concludes: “The economic recovery, rise in consumer spending and growth in e-commerce payments will continue to push credit and charge card payments usage in Australia. The market is projected to register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% between 2024 to 2028, to reach AUD537.9 billion ($357.4 billion) in 2028.”

*GlobalData’s 2023 Financial Services Consumer Survey was carried out in Q2 2023. Approximately 50,000 respondents aged 18+ were surveyed across 40 countries.