Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover market share against each other in U.S. 2007-2023

Visa's U.S. market share increased during the coronavirus pandemic, mostly as Americans used more debit cards. This is according to estimates based on the transaction volume of general purpose credit and debit cards issued in the United States. Visa's market share strengthened as time went by, moving from a roughly 50 percent market share in 2007 to more than 60 percent by 2022. This is likely because of the growing use of debit cards in the U.S. — causing the market share of American Express to decline.

Debit cards grow faster than credit cards in the U.S.

The number of cards issued by Visa reveals a growth disparity between their debit cards and their credit cards. The number of Visa issued debit cards in circulation in the U.S. in Q2 2023 had increased by 9.3 percent when compared to the same period in the previous year. This growth figure was 7.7 percent for U.S. Visa issued credit cards during the same period. By the second quarter, the United States had over 900 million debit cards from Visa against roughly 390 million Visa credit cards.

Who uses debit cards in the United States?

A three-year survey stated more than eight out of 10 respondents from the United States owned a debit card in 2021, with only 70 percent actually having used one. Women were much more likely than men to own such a payment card. Gen Z — or the age group 15 to 24 years in this survey — was less likely to own a debit card than their older counterparts, although their ownership of debit cards was much higher when compared to Gen Z credit card ownership.