e-commerce card spending to reach $6trn by 2021-Report

Some cardholders in the past have avoided purchasing goods online because of security concerns, but the trend is changing due to the confidence building in the use of online cards.

According to Global Payment Cards Data and Forecasts to 2021, an annual survey by RBR, the value of e-commerce card payments made worldwide grew 26 per cent during 2015 to reach $2.7 trillion, representing 12 per cent of all card expenditure.

RBR estimates that e-commerce card spending will more than double between 2015 and 2021 to reach $6 trillion.
“The e-commerce sector will represent a growing proportion of global card expenditure with 1 dollar in 5 spent online by 2021,” said Chris Herbert of RBR. “The improving convenience and security of the e-commerce channel are key drivers of this growth.

RBR disclosed that key factors driving growth include: a surge in Internet penetration and smartphone holding; a rising number and range of merchants with an online presence; the convenience of making impulse buys on the move via mobile device; tools such as one-click checkouts and suggested additional items that simplify the transaction process.

Confidence in the e-commerce channel, RBR said, is rising with implementation of measures, such as, the new 3-D Secure specification for cardholder authentication, which will be rolled out in the coming years.