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Issue 1294

Award-winning business intelligence, payment card statistics, industry news, and dozens of executive contacts in every issue. Subscribers receive 22 issues a year.
Newsletter
October 2025

Listen to highlights from this issue

Featured Article

Payment Cards and Agentic Commerce

Committing to a purchase at the intent to buy, not when payment is applied, is one of several factors in agentic commerce that differ from the core paradigm associated with traditional ecommerce.
Featured Chart

The 150 Largest Merchant Acquirers Worldwide—2024

The eight acquirers listed here processed 208.55 billion global brand transactions in 2024. This represented 37.9% of transactions generated by the top 150. Domestic brands are excluded.

Featured Companies

Message from the Publisher

Our referral program continues to offer excellent benefits to subscribers that
recommend the Nilson Report to their colleagues. This month, we have updated
our incentive offer to include Apple’s latest AirPods Pro 3. In the office, on a plane or at the gym, these AirPods have impressed us with their noise cancellation capabilities, as well as a new live translation feature that makes doing business in a foreign language much easier. A free set of AirPods Pro 3 is yours if three of your colleagues who you refer sign up for a free trial subscription.

David Robertson, Publisher
October 16, 2025

ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE

CHARTS IN THIS ISSUE

Largest Merchant Acquirers Worldwide — 2024

Market Shares of Purchase Transactions in 2024 by Region

Largest 150 Merchant Acquirers Worldwide (Ranked by Global and Domestic Card Brand Purchase Transactions in 2024)

US Store Credit Cards — 2024

US Credit Card Debt and Consumer Credit

Total Household and Credit Card Debt

Credit Card Debt as a Percentage of Consumer Credit

Spending, Transactions and Cards by Global Brand

Investments and Acquisitions

FEATURED STATISTICS

Purchase transaction figures for goods and services, cards in circulation and purchase volume generated by Visa, Mastercard, America Express and Diners Club cards issued in the Middle East and Africa region in 2024 are shown on page 14 of this issue. Purchase volume is shown here. Full access to our article, Middle East and Africa Global Brand Network Cards, is available when you subscribe or log in to the Nilson Report.

Visa……………..    $718.57 billion
Mastercard….     $475.97 billion
American Exp…. $24.24 billion
Diners Club………$12.71  billion

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