Financial cards and payments in 2024: The big picture
The trend away from cash payments continued in Austria in 2024. This was mainly in favour of debit cards, especially the Mastercard Debit brand which is a standard payment card for Austrian consumers for all possible occasions. A strong driver towards cards is the increasing social acceptance of card payments for the even small amounts, which is closely linked to the popularity of contactless payment. The use of cards via mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, has further contributed to the displacement of cash payments, and is also growing in popularity as a payment method.
2024 key trends
Card payments in 2024 were characterised by the increasing dominance of debit card payments, as a result of the spread of the latest generation of this style of card and embodied by Mastercard Debit and Visa Debit. In contrast to the previously dominant Maestro brand, these cards enjoy maximum acceptance at domestic POSs and also abroad and online. A growing number of consumers have recognised these advantages and questioned the need for additional charge or credit cards, especially with the additional fees they cost. Indeed, the major selling points for such cards in Austria had traditionally been their wide acceptance abroad and online. However, with the new generations of debit cards, with their wider acceptance, the unique selling points of credit cards and charge cards are becoming redundant. As well as having a noticeable impact on charge cards and credit cards, this has also negatively affected open loop pre-paid cards, whose raison d'être no longer seems justified in view of the powerful new debit cards and new, secure, and digital payment options.
Competitive landscape
Given the increasing popularity of Mastercard Debit, Mastercard maintained its leadership in card payments and in payments overall in 2024. Visa's counterpart, Visa Debit, only really appeared in Austria in 2023, when Mastercard already had cooperations with all major banks in Austria and Mastercard Debit had already become the standard payment card for account holders in the country. That said, in 2024, Visa Debit continued to take small steps and celebrated new partnerships with several smaller banking brands, which introduced the card as the standard payment card for all their account holders. In terms of card issuers, very little has changed, while Austrian consumers remain relatively conservative and cautious in everything to do with finance and payments. Neobanks and other more innovative players continue to find it relatively difficult to achieve notable traction, and the scene continues to be dominated by the four major house banks, namely: Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG; Raiffeisen Bank International AG; UniCredit Bank Austria AG; and BAWAG PSK AG.
What next for financial cards and payments?
Overall, card payment transactions are expected to see good growth over the forecast period, at the cost of cash, but at a lower rate compared to the review period when growth was helped by the establishment of contactless payments and by the event of the pandemic triggering this move. Whilst cash currently still maintains appeal among many consumers in Austria, it is likely that a growing number will no longer carry cash with them and will expect to be able to pay by card for all needed requirements, in terms of merchants, acceptance, and from small amounts to large payments. It is also expected that a growing number of these will become digital, via smartphones and digital wallets, which will likely account for the majority of card payments by the end of the forecast period. Ongoing developments are also expected in the new generation of “Tap to pay” transactions which are accepted by standard smartphones and in-car payments.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Financial Cards and Payments industry in Austria with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
Key trends are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside the most current research data available. Understand and assess competitive threats and plan corporate strategy with our qualitative analysis, insight and confident growth projections.
If you're in the Financial Cards and Payments industry in Austria, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
The Financial Cards and Payments in Austria report includes:
- Analysis of key supply-side and demand trends
- Detailed segmentation of international and local products
- Historic volume and value sizes, company and brand market shares
- Five year forecasts of market trends and market growth
- Robust and transparent research methodology, conducted in-country
This report answers:
- What is the market size of Financial Cards and Payments in Austria?
- What are the major trends key to understanding Financial Cards and Payments in Austria?
- How has COVID-19, recession and macroeconomic volatility impacted the market?
- How long will the market take to recover? What are the opportunities now?
- How will political context and shifting cultural values shape future growth?
- Where is future growth expected to be most dynamic?
Financial Cards and Payments in Austria - Industry Overview
Financial cards and payments in 2024: The big picture
2024 key trends
Competitive landscape
What next for financial cards and payments?
DISCLAIMER
Charge Cards in Austria - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Continuing shift from cash to cards helps to support transactions
Increasing usage of debit cards hurts growth in charge cards
Charge cards and credit cards remain inseparable in Austria
Debit cards will continue to damage the prospects of charge cards
Plenty of untapped growth opportunities for cards still remains, including charge cards
Digital solutions will gradually make physical cards increasingly obsolete
Credit Cards in Austria - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Credit cards benefit from continuing trend towards card payments
Growing dominance of debit cards hurts credit cards
Consumers usually not interested in cards with revolving credit
Debit card transactions will continue to cannibalise credit cards
Role of revolving credit unlikely to improve
Credit cards will also benefit from innovations favouring card payments
Debit Cards in Austria - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Debit cards benefit from strong growth in payments online and abroad
Mastercard maintains lead while Visa makes small progress
Strength of debit cards hurts other types of payment cards
Debit cards set to remain the biggest beneficiary of a continuing shift away from cash
Mastercard set to remain the leader
Growth opportunities outweigh threats in the near future
Pre-Paid Cards in Austria - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Consumers have less use for open loop-pre-paid cards
More specialised applications are only slowly gaining importance in pre-paid cards
Gift cards remain a major backbone in pre-paid cards in Austria
No growth drivers in sight for open loop pre-paid cards
Various challenges and bad press hang over pre-paid cards — even the popular ones
Still some growth potential left for gift cards
Store Cards in Austria - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Clear trend towards negligibility continues for store cards
Decline driven by obsoletion store card programmes
Merchants gradually lose interest in store cards, with only a small number remaining
No help in sight for store cards
Increasing dominance of debit cards could potentially help store cards, in a very optimistic scenario
Consumer trends are clearly moving away from store cards
The following categories and subcategories are included:
Financial Cards and Payments
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- ATM Cards
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- Commercial Charge Cards
- Personal Charge Cards
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- Commercial Credit Cards
- Personal Credit Cards
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- Commercial Debit Cards
- Personal Debit Cards
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- Closed Loop Pre-Paid Cards
- Open Loop Pre-Paid Cards
- Store Cards
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- ATM Transactions
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- Commercial Charge Card Transactions
- Personal Charge Card Transactions
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- Commercial Credit Card Transactions
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- Average Personal Credit Card Balance
- Average Personal Credit Card Limit
- Personal Credit Card Utilisation
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- Commercial Debit Card Transactions
- Personal Debit Card Transactions
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- Closed Loop Pre-Paid Card Transactions
- Open Loop Pre-Paid Card Transactions
- Store Card Transactions
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- Commercial Card Payment Transactions
- Commercial Electronic Direct/ACH Transactions
- Commercial Paper Payment Transactions
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- Personal Card Payment Transactions
- Personal Electronic Direct/ACH Transactions
- Personal Paper Payment Transactions
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- Commercial Electronic Direct/ACH Transactions
- Personal Electronic Direct/ACH Transactions
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- Commercial Cash Transactions
- Commercial Other Paper Transactions
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- Personal Cash Transactions
- Personal Other Paper Transactions
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- Mobile Proximity Payments
- Mobile Remote Payments
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Financial Cards and Payments
Payments are tracked based on the country of residence / account issuance and include outbound spend while excluding inbound spend.
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This report originates from Passport, our Financial Cards and Payments research and analysis database.
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