Digital Payments transaction value in countries worldwide 2018

China is the largest contributor to the global payments industry with a share of almost 33% in 2018, followed by the U.S., Japan, the UK and Germany. What is particularly interesting is that the country was at par with the U.S. as recently as 2012. However, exponential growth in debit and credit card usage along with the emergence of a large ecosystem of players such as Alipay and WeChat Pay and strong government policies and support, has catapulted China to the forefront of the payments market worldwide.

Mobile payments have particularly witnessed strong growth with its market share increasing from just 3.5% in 2011 to a staggering 83% in 2018. The rapid growth of e-Commerce, high smartphone penetration, the relatively low growth of other payment channels such as credit cards, and the integrated mobile payment services offered by China’s big Internet companies such as Tencent and Alibaba, are some of the key factors driving the market.