Ireland Country Report

Key Topics
Demographics and the economy
Payments environment
Irish cards market
Mobile payments
Profit pool
The networks
Key retail banks and issuers
Acquiring and processing
Online acquiring
Regulatory and other cards market information

Appendices: Card Payments Data

Appendix I: Demographics and the economy

• Demographic and economic indicators
• Ownership of key consumer devices
• Internet usage by population

Appendix II: Payments environment

• Access points
• Account penetration
• Consumer payment trends
• B2C e-commerce payment methods

Appendix III: Cards market

• Total cards payment metrics
• Contactless cards metrics
• Ireland credit card data numbers
• Total credit cards metrics
• Credit cards profitability indicators
• Debit cards numbers
• Debit cards metrics

Appendix IV: Mobile payments

• Mobile proximity payment metrics

Appendix V: Profit pool

• Irish profit pool

Appendix VI: The card networks

• Networks' credit card market shares
• Networks' credit card numbers
• Networks' credit card billed volume
• Networks' number of credit card transactions
• Networks' average credit card transaction value
• Credit card interchange fees by network
• Networks' debit card market shares
• Networks' debit card numbers
• Networks' debit card billed volume
• Networks' number of debit card transactions
• Networks' average debit card transaction value
• Debit card interchange fees by network

Appendix VII: Retail banks and issuers

• Key credit card issuers market shares by credit card numbers
• Key issuers market shares in credit card outstandings
• Key debit card issuers market shares by debit card numbers

Appendix VIII: Acquirers and processing

• Merchant acquirer credit card market share
• Credit card merchant service charges
• Merchant acquirer debit card market share
• Debit card merchant service charges
• Credit card issuer/issuing processor relationships
• Credit card acquirer/acquiring processor relationships
• Credit card issuing processor market shares by card numbers
• Credit card acquiring processor market shares by the number of POS transactions

Appendix IX: Online acquiring

Online merchant acquirer market share

Demographics and Economy:
Since joining the EU (then known as the EEC) in 1973, the country has been successful in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Some of the largest global pharmaceutical and tech companies have based their European headquarters on the island.

Payments Environment:
Ireland has traditionally been a cash-based economy; that has begun to change in recent years thanks to rapid growth in electronic payments. There has been an explosion in the use of debit cards for purchases, with contactless and e-commerce driving that growth.

Cards market:
The Irish payment cards industry has enjoyed strong growth in both billed volume and transactions over recent years. The total number of payment cards in Ireland (excluding prepaid) increased 13% between 2013 and 2018; of the seven million cards in circulation at the end of 2018, almost three quarters were debit cards.

Mobile Payments:
Contactless card payments have grown rapidly, but consumers have seen little incentive to migrate to mobile. In 2018 an estimated 5% of contactless payments were made via a mobile device. Google and Apple Pay are the main players in the space.

Profit Pool:
While the market compares favourably to other European markets by some measures, products remain unsophisticated by international standards, with little differentiation between issuers and product lines.

Card Networks:
At the end of 2018, Mastercard held an estimated 63% share of credit cards in issue, as well as an estimated 55% of billed volume. Visa is the country's largest debit-card network in terms of card numbers and billed volume ... an estimated market share of 92% both in terms of cards in circulation and billed volume.

Key Retail Banks and Issuers:
Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and Bank of Ireland (BOI) are the leading retail banking players in the market: both (partially state-owned) lenders emerged from Ireland's financial crisis with a dominant position in the market.

Acquiring and Processing:
Ireland's acquiring market has come to be heavily influenced by some of the largest global players, though the two leading banks maintain an interest through joint ventures.

Online Acquiring:
Cards are the leading online payment method in Ireland and face limited competition from alternative payment methods. E-wallets, particularly PayPal, are the preferred alternative
to cards but account for a relatively small proportion of online spend.

Regulatory and Markets Information:
Stakeholders in the country's banking and payments system are represented by the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI), a strategic and technical support body set up in 1997 to provide advice and technical support to members and to act as a forum for discussion on payment- system issues.