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French Market - What's the breakdown of Online Card Payments? 1. I would like to know the % split of credit card VS debit card VS deferred debit card. From this, I would like to know the market share of major brands (Visa, Mastercard, CB etc.) for each type of card.
Hi! Thanks for your question about the breakdown of online card payments in France and the market share of the industry's leading brands. Here's the short answer: worldwide, debit cards outnumber credit cards more than two to one, and it's very likely that that ratio holds true in France. However, this likelihood can only be assumed since my research did not provide precise percentages on that. Despite this it should be noted that very few people pay an invoice when buying online, preferring a bank card of some sort. The vast majority of cards in France are provided by Carte Bancaire, most often co-branded with a major international brand like Visa or MasterCard.
Read on for a rundown of my findings.
OVERVIEW
I searched for market reports on the overall payment card market in France to get an idea of the split between credit, debit, and deferred debit cards. Unfortunately, a detailed breakdown wasn't available -- in France, deferred debit and credit cards are lumped together, while traditional debit cards form their own category. I also tried to find reports that focused on online purchasing specifically and found a few, but those statistics were more general and didn't break down by card type.
I also looked at reports focusing on the brand split of available cards in France -- a few sources gave me a general idea of the breakdown here, but none gave a breakdown by card type. In most cases, the most recent reports available were from 2016, meaning they use 2015 data -- I've indicated, where applicable, the time range that data comes from.
FINDINGS
Credit cards and deferred debit cards are counted together in France -- immediate debit cards are the second category. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a France-specific breakdown of the percentages of each card type in use. However, debit cards made up over 70% of the global payment card market in 2015, and credit cards made up less than 30%. Debit cards "dominate" the payment market in France in general, and bank cards lead the way in online purchasing by a significant margin.
According to several sources, the vast majority of cards (95% as of 2015) in circulation in France are Carte Bancaire (CB) cards, most often co-branded with a major international card carrier. However, these reports do not specify whether these cards are only debit-credit or credit cards.
Major card carrier, Visa, is the most common brand for online purchases at 56% -- as of 2015, there were over 40 million Visa cards in circulation in France. MasterCard is next most common at 24%. CB-only cards account for 3% of purchases. However, due to recent regulatory changes, those percentages may shift in the near future -- CB has lost its "near-monopoly" on the card payments market in France and international carriers are gaining market share.
In terms of online purchase behaviors, French customers tend to prefer cards -- just over half prefer a credit or debit card according to a 2016 survey, and bank cards made up 85% of online purchases that year. Only a small percentage (3-4%) chose to pay by invoice.
CONCLUSION
Worldwide, debit cards have more than 70% of the online payments market. That ratio very likely holds true in France, where debit cards "dominate" the payment market. Still, exact percentages were not available to confirm this. Most cards in France are provided by the Carte Bancaire network, though they're most often co-branded with a major international provider like Visa or MasterCard. However, it should be noted that it is not specified whether these cards are only debit-credit or credit cards. Cards lead the way in French online purchases -- just over half of French consumers prefer to pay with a card when shopping online, and bank cards accounted for 85% of online purchases in France in 2016.
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