Australia’s credit and charge card payments to near $300 billion in 2025 amid consumer and e-commerce growth: GlobalData
Australia’s credit and charge card payments market continues to demonstrate resilience and growth, underpinned by rising consumer spending, robust payment infrastructure, and an expanding e-commerce landscape. Enhanced by value-added incentives such as cashback offers, flexible repayment options, and installment facilities, the market is set to maintain an upward trajectory, reaching AUD453.9 billion ($299.7 billion) in 2025 despite evolving global economic challenges, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s Payment Cards Analytics reveals that credit and charge card payment value in Australia registered a growth of 6.3% in 2024, driven by the rise in consumer spending.
Kartik Challa, Senior Banking and Payments Analyst at GlobalData, commented, “Public awareness of the advantages associated with credit card usage is widespread in Australia. Consumers frequently utilize these cards to capitalize on benefits, including cashback offers and rewards programs. Bolstered by a robust payment infrastructure and a flourishing e-commerce market, credit and charge cards have gained marked preference among the Australian consumers.”
Australians are increasingly using credit and charge cards for payments, with the frequency of payments per card standing at 225.5 times in 2024 and is anticipated to further rise to 239.5 in 2029. This is driven by banks offering flexible repayment options and value-added benefits such as cashback, reward points, discounts, and installment facilities.
CommBank offers an installment plan “SurePay,” allowing its credit card holders to convert purchases into three, six, or 12 months. Likewise, National Australia Bank’s NAB Now Pay Later option allows customers to split the cost of purchases into four interest-free repayments over six weeks.
Well-developed payment infrastructure has been another key driver for the rise of credit and charge cards in Australia. The number of POS terminals per million inhabitants in Australia stood at 39,031 in 2024, which is higher compared to some of its peers such as China (33,631), Hong Kong (27,184), and India (6,964), though there is significant room for further expansion of POS infrastructure.
Rising e-commerce payments is another factor contributing to the growth in credit and charge card usage. According to GlobalData’s E-Commerce Analytics, credit and charge cards are the preferred payment method for online payments, with 22.5% share in 2024.
Meanwhile, to mitigate the risk of over-indebtedness, banks offer debt reconsolidation programs and credit card balance transfer programs to their customers to enable them to merge multiple loans (including credit card debt) into a single, monthly installment and transfer their credit card balance without interest. For example, ANZ offers balance transfer options that enable customers to consolidate debt by transferring outstanding balances from non-ANZ credit cards to a new or existing ANZ credit card.
Challa concluded, “Australia’s credit and charge card market is poised for sustained growth over the next five years, driven by the economic recovery, growing consumer spending, and growth in e-commerce payments. However, challenges such as the ongoing global trade tariff dispute among major countries, and geopolitical uncertainties remain bottlenecks to the market. Overall, the value of credit and charge card payments is forecast to register a slower compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4% between 2025 and 2029 to reach AUD539.1 billion ($356 billion) in 2029.”
