GPR
2024
9th Edition
The Global Payments Report
How consumer choice is changing commerce
People + Payments
Consumers have more payment options than ever before and it is the choices they make that drive the payment landscape.
Explore this new choice era in the 9th edition of Worldpay's Global Payments Report, your expert guide to payments across 40 markets.
Understand how consumer choices become trends and understand what these trends mean for the future of your business.
Global trends to watch
Digital wallets - the people’s choice
Digital wallets are the most popular and the fastest-growing payment method globally, however consumers shop. In 2023, they accounted for 50% of global e-com spend (> $3.1T) and 30% of global POS spend (> $10.8T). Wallets are projected to account for more than $25T or 49% of global transaction value across e-commerce and POS by 2027.
Download reportStaying power – cards remain strong inside and outside digital wallets
Consumers turning to digital wallets isn’t a turn away from cards. In card-dominated markets, card spend is simply shifting to “pass-through” and “staged” digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal. Taken as a whole, card transaction values are at an all-time high and continue to rise.
Download reportUnequal success for A2A
Despite increasing dominance in markets like Brazil and India, A2A remains challenged in card-heavy markets such as the UK and USA. A2A’s lower cost of payment acceptance makes it popular with merchants. Can consumers be enticed to break their card habits?
Download reportConsumers show solidarity with BNPL
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) companies faced well-documented headwinds in 2023 including rising interest rates, looming regulation and souring investor sentiment. Consumers countered those headwinds by choosing BNPL more than ever. Banks, fintechs, big techs and platforms are stepping in to satisfy consumer demand and capture their spend.
Download reportOn the march – global e-com outpaces POS
Global e-commerce surpassed $6.1 trillion in 2023 and is growing at more than twice the rate of global POS value. E-com growth is projected for 9% CAGR (versus 4% for POS) through 2027. E- com as a percentage of all commerce reached 14.4% globally in 2023 and forecast to exceed 17% by 2027.
Download reportCash continues to resist
Although cash fell -8% globally in 2023 and is expected to decline at -6% CAGR through to 2027, it remains relevant amid economic uncertainty. It is still a vital payments tool for billions of consumers. In 2023, cash accounted for 16% ($6 trillion) of global transaction value, including double-digit share in 30 of 40 markets in this report.
Download reportThe rise of prepaid cards
Prepaid cards will exceed $1 trillion in global transaction value. Versatility drives prepaid cards’ success: as gift cards, reloadable stored value cards, for payroll, business-to-consumer payments and as government benefits. Prepaid cards support financial inclusion by serving underbanked consumers.
Download reportPost-pay’s decline in popularity
Post-pay is a voucher-based payment that allows consumers to shop online and pay at an affiliated store or ATM. Although it remains popular in cash-heavy LATAM and Japan, where it accounted for 5% of e-commerce transaction value in 2023, an upturn in financial inclusion and overall shift away from cash is signalling post-pay’s sunset.
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Regional trends
Asia-Pacific (APAC)
The global leader in digital payments
In 2023 APAC’s consumers continued to lead the world in digital wallet use online. Wallets were used for 70% of e-com transaction value in 2023 with a transaction value of over $2 trillion (> 64% of global online spend.)
For the first time, digital wallets surpassed 50% of POS spend in APAC in 2023 (> $7.8 trillion and nearly 72% of the global POS digital wallet Market).
Credit cards were the preferred method of online payment in seven of fourteen APAC markets. Direct credit card spend outside of digital wallets accounted for 12% of APAC’s e-commerce transaction value in 2023.
Consumer demand for Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) remained strong in 2023, with BNPL accounting for 4% of regional online spend, over $120 billion in transaction value.
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EUROPE
Unified, yet infinitely diverse
Despite the many of its countries sharing the EU’s common regulatory umbrella, Europe’s e-commerce payment landscape is remarkably diverse. Credit cards, debit cards, account-to-account and digital wallets all led in at least two European markets covered in this report.
Digital wallets are Europe’s leading e-commerce payment method and accounted for 30% of e-com transaction value in 2023. Wallets are projected to grow at 17% CAGR to 2027, when they will account for around 40% of e-com value.
The transaction value of cash halved to around 20% between 2019 and 2023 in the 14 European markets covered by the report. With -5% CAGR projected to 2027 when we estimate cash will account for 16% of POS transaction value.
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Latin America (LATAM)
Account-to-account (A2A) is rising
LATAM had the highest percentage of A2A payment penetration of any global region in 2023 with 20% of regional e-com transaction value. Inspired by the tremendous success of Brazil's Pix instant payment system, regional leaders are increasingly turning to account-to-account payments.
For the moment, cash remains LATAM’s leading payment method at POS, but for the first time in 2023, cash shared the lead with credit cards with 29% of regional POS transaction value each. Credit cards are projected to overtake cash as the leading in-person payment method in 2024.
Digital wallets are the fastest-growing payment method in LATAM. Wallets accounted for 21% of regional e-com spending in 2023 and are projected to grow at 21% CAGR to around 28% of regional online spending by 2027.
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Middle East & Africa (MEA)
Digital payments are ascendent
Digital wallets are the fastest growing online payment method in MEA, as they are globally. Wallets garnered 23% of regional e-com spend in 2023, with transaction value rising 35% year-over-year.
Account-to-account (A2A) payments will see tailwinds from new real-time payment rails as well as efforts to establish interoperability between domestic schemes across the region.
MEA has the highest use of cash on delivery among all global regions at 9% of 2023 regional online spend, following from having the highest regional use of cash overall.
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North America (NA)
Cards continue to dominate
North American consumers remain strongly attached to the use of cards. When combined, direct use of credit, debit and prepaid cards accounted for 52% of e-com and 73% of spending in-store across North America in 2023. Digital wallets are ascendant, though that also reflects card strength give the popularity of “pass-through” card-backed wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Digital wallets have been slower to catch on at POS where strong habits in the use of physical cards have largely resisted change. The potential for a tipping point in wallet adoption is finally being realized as North American consumers catch up to their global counterparts.
Cash has found a resistant floor of use across North America. Cash accounted for an estimated 11% of regional in-store spend in 2023 or roughly $1.26 trillion.
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