General purpose payment card activity on the world’s two largest networks rose 7.6% year-on-year (Y/Y), but down 1.8% quarter-to-quarter (Q/Q) in the first quarter of this year (Q1/2014). The Gross Dollar Volume (GDV) reported by Visa (VS) and MasterCard (MC) for Q1/2014 came in at slightly over $1 trillion, compared to $1028 billion in the prior quarter and $933 billion in the year ago quarter.
The Q1/2014 contraction in U.S. GDV for credit and debit cards is a typical seasonal pattern as the historical Q1 GDV comprises 23.5% of annual GDV, compared to 25.1% in Q2, 25.4% in Q3 and 25.9% in Q4, according to CardData.
Over the past year MasterCard GDV growth continued to outpace Visa in the U.S. Visa reported $690 billion in Q1/2014 U.S. GDV, up 7.9% Y/Y. MasterCard posted $319 billion in Q1/2014 U.S. GDV, up 8.6% Y/Y.
Visa’s credit card/charge card U.S. GDV rose 10.2% Y/Y in Q1/2014 while MasterCard’s credit card/charge card U.S. GDV increased 8.1% Y/Y. Visa’s debit card U.S. GDV continues to mature with a 6.4% Y/Y gain in Q1/2014. MasterCard’s debit card U.S. GDV edged up to 9.0% Y/Y in Q1/2014.
For historical and revised quarterly VS/MC GDV data from Q1/2002 to Q1/2014, visit CardData.
RAM Research projects U.S. GDV of Q2/2014 will rise 8.3% to $1081 billion.
NOTES:
* VISA – Payments volume represents the aggregate dollar amount of purchases made with cards carrying the Visa, Visa Electron and Interlink brands for the relevant period; and cash volume represents the aggregate dollar amount of cash disbursements obtained with these cards for the relevant period and includes the impact of balance transfers and convenience checks; but excludes proprietary PLUS volume. Total volume represents payments volume plus cash volume. Visa payment products are comprised of credit and debit programs, and data relating to each program is included in the tables. Debit programs include Visa’s signature based and Interlink (PIN) debit programs.
* MASTERCARD – GDV represents purchase volume plus cash volume and includes the impact of balance transfers and convenience checks; “purchase volume” means the aggregate dollar amount of purchases made with MasterCard-branded cards for the relevant period; and “cash volume” means the aggregate dollar amount of cash disbursements obtained with MasterCard-branded cards for the relevant period. The number of cards includes virtual cards, which are MasterCard-branded payment accounts that do not generally have physical cards associated with them.
The MasterCard payment product is comprised of credit, charge and debit programs, and data relating to each type of program is included in the tables. Debit programs include MasterCard-branded debit programs where the primary means of cardholder validation at the point of sale is for cardholders either to sign a sales receipt or enter a PIN. The data include information with respect to transactions involving MasterCard-branded cards that are not processed by MasterCard and transactions for which MasterCard does not earn significant revenues.
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For more data on U.S Gross Dollar Payment Card Volume access CardData®. For information and commentary on U.S Gross Dollar Payment Card Volume visit the searchable CardFlash® Library of more than 58,000 articles published since 1995. Custom RAM Research® projects on U.S Gross Dollar Payment Card Volume are available exclusively through CardWeb.com.®
