The Cards and Payments Industry in Iran: Emerging trends and opportunities to 2020

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GlobalData’s "The Cards and Payments Industry in Iran: Emerging trends and opportunities to 2020" report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Iranian cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including payment cards and cheques during the review period (2012-16).

The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry, and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review period and over the forecast period (2016-20). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including the market shares of issuers and schemes.

The report brings together GlobalData’s research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers details of regulatory policy and recent changes in the regulatory structure.

The report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Iranian cards and payments industry, including –
– Current and forecast values for each market in the Iranian cards and payments industry, including debit and credit cards.
– Detailed insights into payment instruments including payment cards and cheques. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.
– Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Iraniann cards and payments industry.
– Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit and credit cards.

Scope

– Iranian banks were disconnected from the SWIFT system in March 2012, due to international sanctions placed on Iran by the US as a result of its nuclear program. Banks in Iran were reconnected to the SWIFT system in February 2016, as the sanctions were lifted. This allows banks in Iran to resume cross-border transactions with foreign counterparts. This is anticipated to support the growth in the country’s cards and payments industry.

– The lifting of sanctions is expected to encourage more foreign banks to expand operations in Iran. South Korea’s Woori Bank opened a representative office in May 2016. In April 2016, the governors of the Central Bank of Iran and the National Bank of Kazakhstan signed a memorandum of understanding on the expansion of banking ties between Iran and Kazakhstan. Furthermore, Belgium's KBC Bank and Germany's DZ Bank have started to handle European clients doing business in Iran.

– To stimulate consumer spending, the Central Bank of Iran introduced a new guideline in September 2016, under which local financial institutions are required to issue low-cost credit cards as part of its nationwide credit card scheme. The credit cards are offered in three types: Gold with a limit of $15,443.60 (IRR500m), Silver with a limit of $9,266.10 (IRR300m), and Bronze with a limit of $3,088.70 (IRR100m). No interest rate is levied on card holders if they clear their debts within a month. Card holders are also allowed to repay their debt in 12-18 instalments with annual interest capped at 18%.

Reasons to Buy

– Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the Iranian cards and payments industry and each market within it.

– Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the Iranian cards and payments industry.

– Assess the competitive dynamics in the Iranian cards and payments industry.

– Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Iran.

– Gain insights into key regulations governing the Iranian cards and payments industry.

Bank Markazi Iran
Visa
Mastercard
JCB
China UnionPay
Bank Mellat
Bank Saderat Iran
Tejarat Bank
Bank Melli Iran
Bank Sepah
Parsian Bank
EN Bank
Iran Maskan
PayPing

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2

1.1. Market overview 2

1.2. Key facts 3

1.3. Top five industry events 4

2. PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS 10

2.1 Current payment environment 10

3. ALTERNATIVE PAYMENTS 12

3.1. Alternative payment instruments 12

3.1.1. ZarinPal 12

3.1.2. Jiring 12

3.1.3. PayPing 12

3.1.4. Sekeh 12

4. REGULATIONS IN THE CARDS AND PAYMENTS INDUSTRY 13

4.1. Regulatory framework 13

4.2. Anti-money laundering 13

4.3. Foreign direct investment regulations 14

5. ANALYSIS OF CARDS AND PAYMENTS INDUSTRY DRIVERS 15

6. PAYMENT CARDS 18

7. DEBIT CARDS 20

7.1. Debit card market analysis 20

7.2. Competition in the debit card market 22

7.3. Debit card comparison 23

8. PAY-LATER CARDS 24

8.1. Pay-later card market analysis 24

8.2. Competition in the pay-later card market 26

8.3. Pay-later card comparison 27

9. PREPAID CARDS 28

10. APPENDIX 30

10.1. Abbreviations and acronyms 30

10.2. Supplementary data 31

10.3. Definitions 38

10.4. Methodology 40

10.5. Bibliography 42

10.6. Further reading 42

Table

List of Tables

Table 1: Iran: key facts, 2016 3

Table 2: Iran: regional benchmarking of payment cards, 2016 3

Table 3: Iran: mode of entry of foreign banks 14

Table 4: Iran: debit card comparison and key features, 2016 23

Table 5: Iran: credit card comparison and key features, 2016 27

Table 6: Iran: payment instrument transaction values (IRRqn), 2012-16e 31

Table 7: Iran: payment instrument transaction values ($bn), 2012-16e 31

Table 8: Iran: payment instrument transaction volumes (millions), 2012-16e 31

Table 9: Iran: payment cards in circulation by type (millions), 2012-20f 31

Table 10: Iran: volume of payment card transactions (millions), 2012-20f 31

Table 11: Iran: value of payment card transactions (IRRtn), 2012-20f 32

Table 12: Iran: value of payment card transactions ($bn), 2012-20f 32

Table 13: Iran: debit cards in circulation (millions), 2012-20f 32

Table 14: Iran: debit card transaction volumes, 2012-20f 32

Table 15: Iran: debit card transaction values (IRR), 2012-20f 33

Table 16: Iran: debit card transaction values ($), 2012-20f 33

Table 17: Iran: debit cards in circulation by scheme (millions), 2012-16e 33

Table 18: Iran: debit card transaction values by scheme (IRRqn), 2012-16e 33

Table 19: Iran: debit card transaction values by scheme ($bn), 2012-16e 33

Table 20: Iran: debit card transaction values by issuer (IRRtn), 2012-16e 34

Table 21: Iran: debit card transaction values by issuer ($bn), 2012-16e 34

Table 22: Iran: pay-later cards in circulation (millions), 2012-20f 34

Table 23: Iran: pay-later card transaction volumes, 2012-20f 35

Table 24: Iran: pay-later card transaction values (IRR), 2012-20f 35

Table 25: Iran: pay-later card transaction values ($), 2012-20f 35

Table 26: Iran: pay-later cards in circulation by scheme (000s), 2012-16e 35

Table 27: Iran: pay-later card transaction values by scheme (IRRtn), 2012-16e 36

Table 28: Iran: pay-later card transaction values by scheme ($bn), 2012-16e 36

Table 29: Iran: pay-later card transaction values by issuer (IRRbn), 2012-16e 36

Table 30: Iran: pay-later card transaction values by issuer ($m), 2012-16e 37

Table 31: Iran: prepaid cards in circulation (millions), 2012-20f 37

Table 32: Key definitions 38

Figures

List of Figures

Figure 1: Iran: payment instrument shares by transaction value (%), 2012 vs 2016 10

Figure 2: Iran: payment instrument shares by transaction volume (%), 2012 vs 2016 11

Figure 3: Iran: population and economic indicators 15

Figure 4: Iran: ATMs, POS terminals, and household consumption 16

Figure 5: Iran: payment card transaction value and cards in circulation, 2012-20f 18

Figure 6: Iran: debit card penetration and turnover per card 20

Figure 7: Iran: debit card scheme and issuer transaction value shares, 2016 22

Figure 8: Iran: pay-later card penetration and turnover per card 24

Figure 9: Iran: pay-later card scheme and issuer transaction value shares, 2016 26

Figure 10: Iran: prepaid cards in circulation, 2012-20f 28

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