The European Payments Landscape

May 22, 2023

Are traditional payment methods losing ground in Europe? And how do the competitive positions of major international card schemes look like?

Cards continue to lead in Europe, with debit in the lead:

Despite inroads from so-called alt-pays, cards are still Europe’s favorite way to pay
Cards make up 57.3 percent of all cashless payments, with credit transfers & direct debit responsible for more than 40 percent of the remainder
Debit cards, in particular, now account for 70.5% of all cards in Europe
Debit card payments increased by 19.3%, outpacing credit card payments

Point of Sale (POS) & ATMs:

POS devices grew by 8.97%, driven by the shift to contactless transactions and the advent of cheaper and easier to update “soft” POS terminal
ATM numbers declined by 1.2%, but at a reduced rate compared to the long-term average of 5.4%

Cash makes a surprising comeback:

Cash remains the preferred payment method in 12 out of 19 Eurozone countries
France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Estonia and Ireland are the countries that prefer electronic payment
The value of ATM withdrawals increased by 7.1% across Europe, with a 34.6% surge in the UK

E-commerce continues to soar:

The number of online payments grew by more than 50 percent, while value grew by 62.5%
E-commerce growth across Europe nearly doubled its long-term average at 8%
The UK leads European e-commerce spending (22.6%), followed by France (17.9%) and Germany (16.7%)

Battle among the schemes:

Visa retains its leadership in terms of the number of cards, number of payments, and value while Mastercard is steadily growing within those categories
Visa maintains an impressive hold on the European market, accounting for 57.9 percent of all spending by value, 56.6 percent of transaction volume, and 51.9 percent of all cards across the continent

Help us spread the word! Share this article and contribute to a wider conversation. 📚💬

Fraud remains a constant threat:

Amidst the thriving e-commerce landscape, the persistence of fraud in the payments industry, especially card not present (CNP) fraud, continues to be a pressing issue.
While Europe managed to achieve a combined 2% overall reduction in fraud losses, with the UK leading the way, the industry still needs to continue, striving for more effective solutions to protect consumers and businesses from the financial and reputational damages caused by fraud

What do you think about these trends? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: The annual review of payment data from 33 European countries, by Payments Cards & Mobile.

Related articles:

The European Payments Landscape

Discussion about this post