RBR: 100m merchants worldwide to accept card payments by end 2025

RBR graph showing number of merchant outlets by card payments scheme 2019
MERCHANT OUTLETS: Visa and Mastercard remain the most widely accepted card schemes outside China

The number of outlets worldwide accepting card payments will reach nearly 100m by the end of 2025, an increase driven by government initiatives to promote cashless payments and by an acceleration in the move to contactless payments during the Covid-19 pandemic, research from RBR predicts.

The firm’s ‘Global Payment Cards Data and Forecasts to 2025’ report reveals that the number of merchant outlets accepting card payments worldwide grew by 4% in 2019 to reach 74.5m, with those accepting card payments in India alone rising by 959,000, an expansion of 40%.

“RBR forecasts continued growth in the number of card-accepting merchant outlets worldwide, rising from 74.5 million at end-2019 to 95.9 million at end-2025, largely driven by government initiatives to promote cashless payments,” the report says.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is encouraging use of contactless payments over cash, which in turn boosts the number of Eftpos terminals.”

The report also shows that UnionPay has overtaken Discover as the most widely accepted card scheme, with 59.3m merchant outlets accepting UnionPay cards and 59.2m Discover cards.

Visa and Mastercard are each accepted by 55.6m outlets worldwide and remain the most widely accepted card schemes outside China, accounting for 95% of the total in countries other than China, with each being accepted by 48.5m outlets in those territories.

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