There are now three general purpose payment cards for every man, woman,
and child in the USA. As of March 31st, there were 901.3 million credit
and debit cards in circulation carrying the VISA, MasterCard, American
Express, or Discover brand. With 109 million American households, the
average breaks out to 8.3 per household. The latest census estimates
show a U.S. population of 296 million. The card figures include consumer
and business payment cards. Besides the 901.3 million general purpose
payment cards, there are an estimated 636.5 million limited use, or
store and gas payment cards. Dividing the 1537.8 million total cards by
the same numbers computes to about 14 cards per household or 5 cards
per person.
CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS-IN-FORCE (millions)
NETWORK 1Q/05
VISA 463.4
MasterCard 346.9
American Express 40.3
Discover 50.7
TOTAL 901.3
Source: CardData (www.carddata.com)
There are now three general purpose payment cards for every man, woman,
and child in the USA. As of March 31st, there were 901.3 million credit
and debit cards in circulation carrying the VISA, MasterCard, American
Express, or Discover brand. With 109 million American households, the
average breaks out to 8.3 per household. The latest census estimates
show a U.S. population of 296 million. The card figures include consumer
and business payment cards. Besides the 901.3 million general purpose
payment cards, there are an estimated 636.5 million limited use, or
store and gas payment cards. Dividing the 1537.8 million total cards by
the same numbers computes to about 14 cards per household or 5 cards
per person.