International Purchase Transactions Near 21% YOY in Q4

International purchase transactions (PTX) for Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards grew by 20.8% year-on-year (YOY) in the fourth quarter (4Q/18), compared to 15.8% YOY for 2017. International PTX for credit cards increased 14.8% YOY in 4Q/18, compared to 9.3% YOY for 2017. International PTX for debit cards rose 23.8% YOY in 4Q/18, compared to 21.7% YOY for 2017. (International data exclude U.S. market.)

In the fourth quarter gross international payment (credit + debit) card PTX for Visa and Mastercard came in at 44.40 billion, compared to 41.14 billion for the prior quarter and 36.75 billion in the year ago quarter, according to CardData.

Average International PTX

The average purchase transaction for international credit and debit cards combined is US$44.00.

For 4Q/18 international credit card PTX for Visa and Mastercard came in at 19.49 billion, compared to 18.42 billion for the prior quarter and 16.99 billion in the year ago quarter.

The average purchase transaction for international credit cards is US$80.01.

For the first quarter international debit card PTX for Visa and Mastercard came in at 24.47 billion, compared to 22.72 billion for the prior quarter and 19.76 billion in the year ago quarter.

The average purchase transaction for international debit cards is US$29.91.

Visa PTX

Visa’s 4Q/18 international credit card PTX rose 12.3% YOY, compared to 6.4% YOY in 2017. Visa reported international credit card PTX of 10.50 billion, compared to 10.0 billion for 3Q/18 and 9.35 billion for 4Q/17.

Visa’s 4Q/18 international debit card PTX rose 18.8% YOY, compared to 18.4% YOY for 2017. Visa reported international debit card PTX of 15.99 billion, compared to 14.96 billion for 3Q/18 and 13.46 billion for 4Q/17.

Mastercard PTX

Mastercard’s 4Q/18 international credit card PTX rose 11.2% YOY, compared to 13.7% YOY in 2017. Mastercard reported international credit card PTX of 8.50 billion, compared to 8.43 billion for 3Q/18 and 7.64 billion for 4Q/17.

Mastercard’s 4Q/18 international debit card PTX rose 34.5% YOY, compared to 29.4% YOY for 2017. Mastercard reported international debit card PTX of 8.48 billion, compared to 7.76 billion for 3Q/18 and 6.30 billion for 4Q/17.