Market Share by Credit Card Issuer
The credit card market is highly competitive, ever-evolving, and top-heavy. As such, the hierarchy of companies in this space is very revealing. Issuer market share, and changes therein, indicate trends in financial brand recognition, consumer preference, and competitive dynamics. Such statistics also provide useful context to investors as they approach the banking sector.
Below you will find historical market share information for general-consumer credit cards, store credit cards, and business credit, expressed in terms of both purchase volume and outstanding balances.
Total Credit Card Market
Top 15 U.S. Credit Card Issuers Based on Purchase Volume (In Billions)
| Rank (2016) | Issuer | Purchase Volume in 2016 | Purchase Volume in 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Express | $674.67 | $519.47 |
| 2 | Chase | $588.63 | $370.83 |
| 3 | Bank of America | $311.29 | $248.59 |
| 4 | Citibank | $288.57 | $194.66 |
| 5 | Capital One | $240.85 | $115.63 |
| 6 | U.S. Bancorp | $122.45 | $82.47 |
| 7 | Discover | $121.42 | $100.14 |
| 8 | Wells Fargo | $118.68 | $56.22 |
| 9 | Barclays | $70.51 | $30.45 |
| 10 | Synchrony Financial* | $47.45 | $23.69 |
| 11 | USAA | $41.50 | $30.79 |
| 12 | PNC | $31.05 | $16.46 |
| 13 | Comdata | $27.12 | N/A |
| 14 | Cabela's WFB | $21.91 | $13.87 |
| 15 | WEX | $20.29 | N/A |
(Source: Nilson Report, February 2017 and February 2012)
Top 15 issuers of general purpose credit cards as of Dec 31, 2016 based on outstanding balances
| Rank | Issuer | Outstanding Balances (in Billions) | Market Share |
Cumulative Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chase | $141.82 | 14.17% | 14.17% |
| 2 | Bank of America | $101.56 | 10.15% | 24.32% |
| 3 | Citibank | $94.50 | 9.44% | 33.76% |
| 4 | American Express | $92.43 | 9.24% | 43.00% |
| 5 | Capital One | $90.43 | 9.04% | 52.04% |
| 6 | Discover | $61.52 | 6.15% | 58.18% |
| 7 | Wells Fargo | $38.83 | 3.88% | 62.06% |
| 8 | U.S. Bank | $37.16 | 3.71% | 65.78% |
| 9 | Barclays | $26.35 | 2.63% | 68.41% |
| 10 | Synchrony Financial* | $20.46 | 2.04% | 70.45% |
| 11 | USAA | $18.93 | 1.89% | 72.35% |
| 12 | Navy FCU | $12.49 | 1.25% | 73.59% |
| 13 | PNC Bank | $6.39 | 0.64% | 74.23% |
| 14 | TD Bank | $5.95 | 0.59% | 74.83% |
| 15 | First National | $5.92 | 0.59% | 75.42% |
|
TOTAL CREDIT CARD DEBT: |
$1,000.74 |
Market Share of Issuers based on Outstanding Balances
Top 15 issuers of general purchase credit cards in the U.S. based on purchase volume -- 2004 vs. 2016
| Rank | 2004 | 2009 | 2011 | 2013 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Express | American Express | American Express | American Express | American Express | American Express |
| 2 | Chase | Chase | Chase | Chase | Chase | Chase |
| 3 | Citi | Bank of America | Bank of America | Bank of America | Bank of America | Bank of America |
| 4 | MBNA | Citibank | Citibank | Citibank | Citibank | Citibank |
| 5 | Bank of America | Capital One | Capital One | Capital One | Capital One | Capital One |
| 6 | Capital One | Discover | Discover | Discover | Discover | Discover |
| 7 | Discover | U.S. Bancorp | U.S. Bancorp | U.S. Bank | Wells Fargo | U.S. Bancorp |
| 8 | US Bank | Wells Fargo | Wells Fargo | Wells Fargo | US Bancorp | Wells Fargo |
| 9 | HSBC | HSBC | HSBC | Barclays | Barclays | Barclays |
| 10 | Wells Fargo | Barclays | Barclays | USAA | Synchrony Financial | Synchrony Financial |
| 11 | USAA | USAA | USAA | N/A | USAA | USAA |
| 12 | WaMu | GE Money | GE Money | N/A | PNC | PNC |
| 13 | GE Money | PNC Bank | PNC Bank | N/A | Comdata | Navy FCU |
| 14 | Target | Cabela's WFB | Cabela's WFB | N/A | Cabela's WFB | TD Bank |
| 15 | Advanta | Target | Target | N/A | WEX | First National |
Store Credit Card Market
2015's Largest Store Card Issuers by Purchase Volume (in millions)
| Rank (2015) | Issuer | Market Share(2015) | Purchase Volume (2015) | Purchase Volume (2014) | Purchase Volume (2012) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Synchrony Financial | 33% | $61,983 | $54,371 | $54,410 |
| 2 | Citi Retail Services | 26% | $49,440 | $48,000 | $41,416 |
| 5 | Capital One | 19% | $36,410 | $32,509 | $19,148 |
| 3 | Alliance Data | 8% | $15,988 | $14,025 | $12,524 |
| 6 | TD Bank | 5% | $9,335 | $6,915 | $770 |
| 4 | Wells Fargo Retail Services | 4% | $7,789 | $7,017 | $5,568 |
| 7 | Army & Air Force Exchange | 1% | $1,714 | $1,863 | $2,033 |
2012 vs. 2002 Store Credit Card Purchase Volume (in Billions)
2012's Largest Store Card Issuers by Purchase Volume (in Billions)
2013's Largest Store Card Issuers by Number of Stores
Commercial Credit Card Market
Top 10 U.S. Issuers of Commercial Credit Cards by Purchase Volume
Top 10 U.S. Issuers of Commercial Credit Cards 2012 and 2015
| 2012 | 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Issuer | Market Share based on Purchase Volume | Issuer | Market Share based on Purchase Volume |
| 1 | Chase | 26.50% | Chase | 12.33% |
| 2 | Bank of America | 18.30% | Bank of America | 11.01% |
| 3 | U.S. Bank | 15.10% | Wells Fargo | 7.74% |
| 4 | Citigroup | 12.90% | U.S. Bank | 6.01% |
| 5 | Wells Fargo | 9.30% | Citibank | 4.75% |
| 6 | Capital One | 7.90% | Capital One | 4.21% |
| 7 | PNC | 3.20% | Comdata | 2.69% |
| 8 | BMO Harris | 3.20% | PNC | 2.27% |
| 9 | Comdata | 3.20% | Bancorp | 2.15% |
| 10 | Comerica | 3.00% | Comerica | 1.99% |
Top 10 U.S. Issuers of Commercial Debit Cards by Purchase Volume
Top 10 U.S. Issuers of Commercial Debit Cards 2013 and 2016
| 2013 | 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Issuer | Market Share based on Purchase Volume | Issuer | Market Share based on Purchase Volume |
| 1 | Bank of America | 20.59% | Wells Fargo | 18.11% |
| 2 | Wells Fargo | 18.21% | Bank of America | 17.64% |
| 3 | Chase | 13.81% | Chase | 16.09% |
| 4 | U.S. Bank | 3.99% | PNC | 3.76% |
| 5 | PNC | 3.88% | U.S. Bank | 3.64% |
| 6 | USAA | 2.77% | USAA | 2.89% |
| 7 | SunTrust | 2.35% | Bancorp | 2.59% |
| 8 | Regions | 2.32% | ICBA | 2.45% |
| 9 | TD Bank | 2.24% | TD Bank | 2.30% |
| 10 | Bancorp | 2.23% | Regions | 2.17% |
| 11 | Others | 27.61% | Others | 28.36% |
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