Spain Country Report
- Published Date: July 2019
CARDS PAYMENTS & CONSUMER BANKING IN SPAIN
A comprehensive overview of the cards, payments and merchant acquirer market inSpain, with expert commentary and key payment industry market data.
What you will learn from this Spain cards market report:
- How Spain's credit card profitability has fared during the economic recovery
- What interchange caps have meant for the profit pool in Spain
- Which Spanish regulatory moves are impacting the market – and backend infrastructure
- How Spaniards, through apps such as Bizum, are using payment methods
- Where rivals have been finding collaborative opportunities
CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORT SPAIN | KEY FACTS
- The Spanish economy has rebounded since 2014. This recovery in economic performance has boosted the consumer finance and payments industries, along with other sectors of the economy.
- Payment card purchase volume in Spain has seen significant growth over the years under review, growing by 70 per cent from 2012 to 2018.
- Total payment card purchase volume exceeded the total value of ATM cash withdrawals for the first time in 2013.
- In 2018, card purchase volume as a percentage of combined card purchase volume and cash withdrawals came to 59 per cent.
- Debit cards are more widely used than credit cards for transactions in Spain. The value of debit card purchase volume exceeded the value of credit card purchase volume for the first time in 2015.
- Contactless has proven popular among Spanish cardholders. Around 60 per cent of card transactions in 2018 were contactless, despite a relatively low limit.
- Spanish credit card profitability has been boosted by strong lending growth since 2015. Competition is growing in this space as issuers pursue a previously underdeveloped market.
- In 2018, the three ATM and POS networks (ServiRed, Sistema 4B and EURO 6000) merged into a new entity, Sistema de Tarjetas y Medios de Pago, with the brand name yet to be decided.
- This new network has been instructed by the regulator to launch a Spanish domestic payment cards brand, with the first of these cards set to be issued in the final quarter of 2019.
- Mobile payments app Bizum, the product of a collaborative venture by Spanish banks, has become popular for P2P transfers.
Spain Payments Research | Report Contents
Key Topics
Demographics and the economy
Payments environment
Spanish cards market data
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 Spain
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
- Credit card numbers
- Total credit cards metrics
- Credit cards profitability indicators
- Debit cards numbers
- Debit cards metrics
- Appendix IV: Mobile payments
- Mobile proximity payment metrics
- Mobile P2P payments
Appendix V: Profit pool
- Spanish profit pool
Appendix VI: 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: Key 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
Spain Country Report | Selected Extracts
Demographics and Economy:
Spain has one of the largest populations in Western Europe: 46.6 million inhabitants in 2018. The number of people living in the country declined during the years of economic crisis but has now begun to increase again.
Payments Environment:
Cash remains by some distance the most popular payment method by value: during 2018, an estimated $296 billion worth of transactions was paid for using cash. However, payment cards are becoming an increasingly important transactional tool.
Cards market:
Credit card usage was uneven between 2012 and 2018, as the market recovered from the worst years of the economic crisis. While the number of credit cards (including deferred debit cards) grew, total credit cards billed volume decreased. By contrast, debit card billed volume maintained a consistent growth rate.
Mobile Payments:
The most important development in mobile payments has been the launch of Bizum in October 2016: this mobile transfer and payments app, owned by 25 banks, is primarily used to carry out person-to-person transfers.
Profit Pool:
Deferred debit cards are popular in Spain and the credit cards market has developed around this. At the end of the month, cardholders are offered the option to extend their debt through instalment plans which more closely resemble traditional revolving credit.
Card Networks:
Visa leads the Spanish credit cards market in terms of both billed volume and number of cards in issue. Mastercard is a secondary player in the market. American Express, Diners Club, JCB and private label card schemes are also active in Spain.
Key Retail Banks and Issuers:
The Spanish credit cards market is competitive with the leading banks competing with a small number of specialist consumer finance and credit cards specialists. The top five issuers held 66% of total card outstandings at the end of 2018.
Acquiring and Processing:
With approximately 1.82 million POS terminals at the end of 2018, Spain has one of the largest acquiring networks in Europe. At 4,585 terminals per 100,000 adults, Spain is above the EU average in terms of POS density
Online Acquiring:
Total online acquired purchase volume came to $23.6 billion in 2018. Four years earlier, this figure stood at $10.6 billion, equating to an increase of 123% during that timeframe.
Regulatory and Markets Information:
Because of the economic crisis and its impact on bank profitability financial institutions are strongly focused on cross-selling banking products and digital services while leveraging customer transaction-orientated functionalities in all delivery channels.
Spain Payments Report | Entities Referenced
+Renfe
2gether
AirPlus International
Alipay
Amazon
American Express
Amex
Android Pay
Apollo Capital
Apple Pay
AvantCard
Avios
Banca Civica
Bancaja
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
Banco Central
Banco de Valencia
Banco Hispano Americano
Banco Mare Nostrum
Banco Popular
Banco Portugués do Investimento
Banco Sabadell
Banco Santander
Bancopopular-e
Banesto
Banif
Bank of Spain
BankAmericard
Bankia
Bankinter
Barclays
BBVA
BBVA Movil
BBVA Wallet
BBVAnet
Bitcoin
Bitcoin Cash
Bizum
BPI
Caixa Laeitana
CaixaBank
CaixaBank Pay
Caja de Ávila
Caja Laboral Popular
Caja Madrid
Caja Rioja
Caja Segovia
Cajamar
Capital One
Caprabo
Carrefour Financial Services
CECA
Citi
Citicorp
Club Ahora
CNMC
Comercia Global Payments
Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia
Confederación Española de Cajas de Ahorro
Cooperative banks
Cyberpac
Deutsche Bank
Diners Club
Discover Global Network
eBayp insight
El Corte Inglés
Eos
Español de Crédito
Ethereum
EU
EURO 6000
Evo Banco
Evo Bank
Evo Payments
Familia
Ferratum Bank
Global Payments
Google Pay
Grupo Caja Rural
Iberia
Iberia Cards
Iberiacards
Ikea
imaginBank
Infantil
ING
ING
iZettle
JCB
La Caja de Canarias
Linea BBVA
Litecoin
Mastercard
MBNA
McDonald's
Mediamarkt
Mercado de San Miguel
Mercadona
MOMO
N26
Nomo Banking
PayPal
PRICENET
PSD2
PSPs
PULSE
QR
Redes y Procesos
Redsys
Redsys
Renfe
Repsol
Revised Payment Services Directive
Revolut
Ripple
Rodilla
Samsung Pay
Santander Universidades
Santander Wallet
Savings banks
SEPA
SEPA instant credit transfer scheme
SERMEPA
ServiRed
SIBS
Sistema 4B
Sistema de Tarjetas y Medios de Pago
SistemaPay
Sol Melia
Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks
Stellar Lumens
SumUp
Telefonica
Third Party Provider
TPP
Twyp
UniversalPay
Värde Partners
Visa
Visa España
Waiap
WiZink
Zara
MORE EUROPE CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORTS
Verisk financial reports include detailed market and competitor intelligence on payments cards, e-money, acquiring, retail banking, and consumer credit in Europe. Analysts use primary and secondary source data and conduct in-depth interviews with senior industry executives and finance experts.
See more European country reports or explore cards & payments research reports for 72 markets worldwide.
To find out more or to discuss subscription options, please email: research_enquiries@verisk.com or telephone: +44(0)20 7337 4200.