Hello joseph77b-ga
I tried very hard to find a free, publicly-available list that
ranked most countries of the world by credit card penetration, but I
am afraid you may have to pay for such a complete list. Nevertheless,
I also tried my best to come up with some random sources in case that
was a sufficient staring point for you. Though each reference contains
only partial country lists, (in some cases only one), and do not
necessarily rank the countries in order of penetration, they offer
some very useful statistics on credit card use in various countries.
You may also find some overlap or differences among country statistics
depending on the article date and the particular author’s research.
First of all...the list that cost money!
Your best bet for finding up-to-date information is the The World
Competitiveness Handbook 2002, which analyzes 49 countries and
contains valuable statistics including credit card per capita.
Unfortunately, you can only access the information by buying the
Handbook on the IMD website at http://www02.imd.ch/wcy/ A sample
report, which may help you decide if it is worth buying, details
information for Spain (including credit cards per capita) and can be
viewed on page 5 of the report at
http://www02.imd.ch/documents/wcy/content/spain.pdf
Also, The eAsia Report, available from the Marketing Resource group,
though quite costly, offers credit card penetration statistics for
several companies and can be reviewed and purchased at:
http://www.marketingsource.com/services/easiareport/easiareportcharts.html
Now, for the other information I found!
Italy, UK, Spain, Germany, France, Greece
A report by Barclaycard International, entitled “International
Growth”, has a statistical chart of credit card penetration in the
following countries: Italy, UK, Spain, Germany, France and Greece. The
chart can be found on page 6 of the report at the following site:
http://www.investor.barclays.co.uk/pdf/seminar161101_int_grpwth.pdf
Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden ,
Switzerland, UK, U.S.
Statistics from 1999 for credit card penetration per 1000
inhabitants in the countries of Belgium, Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the
United States can be found on page 121 of the report “Statistics on
Payment Systems in the Group of 10 Countries” by the Committee on
Payment and Settlement Systems (March 2001) at:
http://www.bis.org/publ/cpss44.pdf
Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand
A report from the “Asian Banker” contains a chart for credit-card
penetration in the above-listed countries, with statistics as recent
as 12/31/1999, and can be found at
http://www.theasianbanker.com/A556C5/Journal.nsf/2023b9aa12b4e31d482565ab00001be8/a9626bdd16855436482568b4003ac3a9!OpenDocument
Russia
Credit card penetration in Russia is low, with “only about five
million active credit-card accounts, according to Brunswick UBS
Warburg.” Russians would rather use pre-paid cards, rather than credit
cards, especially when buying items online. “Moscow Company, Avtocard,
Develops Prepaid Card to Make Online Payments,” by Guy Chazan. Wall
Street Journal Online (8/2000)
http://www.reksoft.com/news/press/archive/093/
Romania
New Visa cards issued in Romania “reached slightly more than 1m by
the end of 2001.” However, only about “15.5 per cent of these were
credit cards.” Romania is considered to exhibit the best growth rate
for credit card penetration in Central and Eastern Europe. "Currently,
there are between 45,000 and 60,000 new cards issued each month,”
according to the article “Credit Card Penetration Grows,” by Bogdan
Marchidanu at http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=9755
India
According to Rediff.com India Limited, credit card penetration in
India is still quite low. “At present there are approximately 3.8
million credit cards in India, according to a report in The Hindu
(March 15, 2000), one of India's leading dailies.” Rediff.com Press
Release (7/7/2000) http://ir.rediff.com/pressreleasesDt.asp?path=2000%5C7%5Creleases387.htm
Thailand
As of 2001, only 10% of the Thai population carried credit cards,
which is why BtoC commerce has developed so slowly. However, 90% of
Thais with bank accounts have ATM cards, which, along with a special
“virtual e-commerce-enabled credit-card number,” allows consumers to
buy products online.
Additional information about general credit card usage in conjuction
with global e-commerce can be found in the report “E-commerce and
Development Report 2001.” The Nation (1/7/2001)
http://www.siamfuture.com/ThaiNews/ThNewsTxt.asp?tid=477
Different chapters may be downloaded, but I would recommend looking
at pages 52 and 53 under Part 3 Electronic Commerce Environment and
Practice, which provides some charts involving global credit card
market share and user preferences in various countries.
http://www.unctad.org/ecommerce/docs/edr01_en.htm
Argentina
In an interview with executives at e-Charge, Argentina was cited as
having the highest credit-card penetration of any Latin American
country, “at 30%.” “Leading the Charge,” by Larry Sivitz. Seattle 24x7
(9/15/2000)http://www.seattle24x7.com/up/echarge.htm
Senegal
Credit card use in Senegal is virtually non-existent, “well below
1%”, and is not expected to increase at any more than a “snail’s pace
in the local market over the next few years.” Sizing Up Senegal As An
E-Business Market.” Balancing Act News
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act49b.html
Africa
“Credit cards are almost completely unknown in most African
countries...” according to an article titled “Ugandan E-Commerce.”
Balancing Act News http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act36d.html
I hope this information is helpful to you. It was a difficult, but
interesting quest!
Thank you!
umiat-ga
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“credit card” usage by country
“credit card” penetration by country
global “credit card” use
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