CARPINTERIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spending for goods and services at merchants by cardholders of the 50 largest U.S. debit and prepaid card issuers reached $1.521 trillion in 2015, up 5.9% from 2014, according to The Nilson Report. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, and U.S. Bank were the top 5 issuers based on combined signature-based and PIN-based debit as well as prepaid card spending.
Debit and prepaid cards in circulation by the top 50 debit card issuers at year-end 2015 totaled 454.0 million, of which 51.62%, or 234.4 million, were prepaid. In 2014, prepaid accounted for 50.33% of cards.
Americans can use debit cards at merchants with only a signature for security or secured by a PIN — as they do at ATMs. The same is true for prepaid cards. Market shares of spending for all debit products from the top 50 issuers were signature 58%, a 21 basis point (bps) increase, PIN 33%, a 66 bps decrease, and prepaid 9%, a 45 bps increase. “Payment by debit and prepaid cards secured by only a signature are succeeding in the U.S. at the expense of PIN-based debit,” said David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report.
The 5 largest issuers ranked by signature-based debit card purchase volume (no prepaid) were Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, and U.S. Bank.
The 5 largest issuers ranked by PIN-based debit card purchase volume (no prepaid) were Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, and USAA.
The 5 largest prepaid card issuers in 2015 based on purchase volume were The Bancorp Bank, MetaBank, Comerica Bank, Green Dot Bank, and JPMorgan Chase.
About The Nilson Report
The Nilson Report is the most respected source of news and analysis of the global card and mobile payment industries. The by-subscription-only newsletter provides issuer, acquirer, and vendor statistics not found in any other trade journal, as well as concise vendor, personnel, and product updates. The Nilson Report does not accept paid advertising of any kind. There are no advertisements, no articles written by vendors, no sponsored content. Paid subscribers in 88 countries value The Nilson Report to track industry trends and provide market information. Contact Lori Fulmer at lfulmer@nilsonreport.com for a complete copy of Top Issuers of U.S. Debit Cards, or download it now. The report mentioned here appears in the April 15, 2016 issue of the newsletter.