Quarterly number of Visa issued credit cards in U.S. and worldwide 2008-2024

Roughly one out of three of all Visa credit cards issued worldwide were found within the United States, as of the first quarter of 2024. The value inside the U.S. has remained constant over the past few years. In the third quarter of 2016, the number of international cards increased by over 25 percent.Why does the number of cards matter?The number of cards gives a crude idea of market saturation. For example, the number of cards in the United States is close to the total population, meaning that there is one VISA credit card for every man, woman, and child in that country. While many have more than one credit card and small children probably will not use such payment methods, this still gives a rough idea that the U.S. market may not hold much growth potential. International credit card marketThe world market has billions more consumers than the United States, but the number of Visa cards in circulation does not reflect this. The main reason is that other credit companies, such as MasterCard, are present in these markets. Moreover, lower rates of credit card ownership can be observed in many countries. Fintech companies, working on innovative ways of providing credit to consumers, should also be considered.

截至2024年第一季度，全球发行的Visa信用卡中，大约三分之一分布在美国。近年来，美国国内的信用卡价值保持稳定。2016年第三季度，国际卡的数量较之前增长了超过25%。信用卡数量的重要性何在？信用卡的数量为我们提供了一个市场饱和度的粗略概念。例如，美国的信用卡数量几乎等同于总人口，这意味着该国每个成年男女及儿童都拥有一张Visa信用卡。尽管许多人持有不止一张信用卡，而年幼的儿童可能不会使用此类支付方式，但这仍然提供了一个粗略的判断，即美国市场可能缺乏显著的增长潜力。国际信用卡市场：全球市场拥有比美国更多的消费者，但流通中的Visa信用卡数量并未反映出这一点。主要原因在于其他信用卡公司，如万事达卡，在这些市场中占据了一席之地。此外，许多国家信用卡持有率较低。致力于创新消费者信用提供方式的金融科技公司也应予以考虑。