Financial
Financial Cards

Financial Cards in Switzerland

Switzerland

Euromonitor International's Financial Cards in Switzerland report establishes the size and structure of the market for ATMs, credit cards, debit cards, store cards and smart cards. It looks at key players in the market (issuers and operators), number of cards in circulation, numbers transactions and value of transactions. It offers strategic analysis of sector forecasts and trends to watch.

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Tables: 107  |  Publication date: Mar 2008
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Product coverage

Financial cards in circulation; Transactions

Executive summary

Consumer Credit and Lending on the Rise

Total consumer lending in the Swiss market shows only one direction, a straight ascending track. Growth was pushed even higher between 2003 and 2005 when secured lending rates reached a historical low and private mortgage loans were on offer for no interest in the first year at all, with a trend towards consumers owning their own apartments setting in.

In 2007 lending rates were fixed higher again with the domestic and world economy prospering, but mortgage demand remained unshaken.

Also consumer credit balances went on rising, correlating positively with income expectancy, and credit card outstanding reached a new high after having in 2006 already more than doubled the value of the year 2000.

Economy Still a Growth Driver

Recovering from the economic downturn that started in 2002, the domestic economy was strong again in 2006, with record growth recorded in the Swiss GDP. This GDP growth drove disposable income growth, which became itself the motor for consumer spending. Disposable income rose in 2007 whilst the GDP climbed again.

GDP growth predictions for 2008 remain excellent. Switzerland, together with its EU neighbour Austria, will host the European football championship, UEFA EURO 2008, which will stimulate additional consumer spending.

Credit and Charge Cards Pushed Ahead

Credit and charge cards continued to grow in 2007. The only exception is issuers' regular revenue rates, which are on a downward path. The trigger for this was the cobranded retailer cards waiving fees introducing lower lending rates for revolving credit lines, as the novel competition drove growth in penetration and also in point-of-sale (POS) transaction volume and value.

Increased acceptance, as the big domestic retailers Migros and Coop began accepting credit cards, pushed growth amongst retailers. The rest of the growth was accounted for by thriving leisure and business travel or simply the booming economy.

M-Commerce's First Steps

At the end of 2006 Visa started to deploy "Verified by Visa" for m-commerce, thus opening up the possibility to use mobile phones for password-protected Visa transactions. PostFinance enabled holders of a yellow account to pay online with their mobile phones starting in September 2006.

But for the time being, actual "bricks-and-mortar" shops did not begin accepting mobile payments, as substantial investments in the hardware of retail tills would be necessary to enable widespread acceptance of mobile payments.

Mergers & Restructuring

On 15 May 2007, SWX (Swiss stock exchange), SIS (international bonds, notes and shares trading) and Telekurs Group (payment networks, financial information and card business), the major financial infrastructure companies in Switzerland, announced their merger plans. All three organisations belong to the Swiss banks, which expect to optimise their concept of "user-owned" and "user-governed" companies being able to anticipate and react even more flexibly and speedily to the constantly changing environment.

Table of contents

FINANCIAL CARDS IN SWITZERLAND : MARKET INSIGHT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Consumer Credit and Lending on the Rise

Economy Still a Growth Driver

Credit and Charge Cards Pushed Ahead

M-Commerce's First Steps

Mergers & Restructuring

KEY TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS

New Technology Trends: Contactless Payments

Competitive Environment Trends: Positioning of Domestic Network Players

Related Market Trends: Retail Impulses

OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

Consumer Credit and Lending

Issuer Fraud

Acquirer Fraud

E-Commerce

M-Commerce

ATM and POS Terminals

Cash Withdrawals versus Card Purchases

Governmental Regulation and Legislation

MARKET INDICATORS

Table 1 Number of POS Terminals 2004-2007

Table 2 Number of ATMs 2004-2007

Table 3 Disposable Income 2002-2007

Table 4 Consumer Credit 2002-2007

Table 5 Value Lost to Fraud 2002-2007

MARKET DATA

Table 6 Financial Cards: Transactions 2002-2007

Table 7 Financial Cards: Value 2002-2007

Table 8 Financial Cards: Number of Cards in Circulation 2002-2007

Table 9 Financial Cards: Number of Accounts 2002-2007

Table 10 Domestic versus Foreign Spend 2007

Table 11 Card Expenditure by Sector 2007

Table 12 Card Expenditure by Location 2007

Table 13 Financial Cards: Number of Internet Transactions 2002-2007

Table 14 Financial Cards: Internet Transaction Value 2002-2007

Table 15 Financial Cards: Number of Cards by Issuer 2002-2006

Table 16 Financial Cards: Number of Cards by Operator 2002-2006

Table 17 Financial Cards: Point of Sale Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 18 Financial Cards Forecast: Transactions 2007-2012

Table 19 Financial Cards Forecast: Value 2007-2012

Table 20 Financial Cards Forecast: Number of Cards in Circulation 2007-2012

Table 21 Financial Cards: Forecast Number of Accounts 2007-2012

Table 22 Financial Cards Forecast: Number of Internet Transactions 2007-2012

Table 23 Financial Cards Forecast: Internet Transaction Value 2007-2012

DEFINITIONS

Cards by Type

Cardholder Behaviour

Card Expenditure by Sector

Value Lost to Card Fraud

Consumer Credit

Market Background

Sources

Summary 1 Research Sources

LOCAL COMPANY PROFILES - SWITZERLAND

ACCARDA AG - FINANCIAL CARDS - SWITZERLAND

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

KEY FACTS

Summary 2 Accarda AG: Key Facts

Summary 3 Accarda AG: Operational Indicators (Card Services) 2004-2006

COMPANY BACKGROUND

COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

ADUNO SA - FINANCIAL CARDS - SWITZERLAND

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

KEY FACTS

Summary 4 Aduno Group: Key Facts

Summary 5 Aduno Group: Operational Indicators 2004-2006

COMPANY BACKGROUND

COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

CORNèR BANCA - FINANCIAL CARDS - SWITZERLAND

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

KEY FACTS

Summary 6 Cornèr Banca SA: Key Facts

Summary 7 Cornèr Banca SA: Operational Indicators 2004-2006

COMPANY BACKGROUND

COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

POSTFINANCE - FINANCIAL CARDS - SWITZERLAND

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

KEY FACTS

Summary 8 PostFinance: Key Facts

Summary 9 PostFinance: Operational Indicators 2004-2006

COMPANY BACKGROUND

COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

SWISS BANKERSTRAVELERS CHEQUE CENTER - FINANCIAL CARDS - SWITZERLAND

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

KEY FACTS

Summary 10 Swiss BankersTravelers Cheque Center: Key Facts

Summary 11 Swiss BankersTravelers Cheque Center: Operational Indicators 2004-2006

COMPANY BACKGROUND

COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

SMART CARDS IN SWITZERLAND

HEADLINES

TRENDS

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

PROSPECTS

SECTOR DATA

Table 24 Smart Cards Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 25 Smart Cards Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 26 Smart Cards: Memory vs Microprocessor 2004-2007

Table 27 Smart Cards: Contact vs Contactless 2004-2007

Table 28 Smart Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 29 Smart Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

ATM TRANSACTIONS IN SWITZERLAND

HEADLINES

TRENDS

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

PROSPECTS

SECTOR DATA

Table 30 ATM Cards Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 31 ATM Cards Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 32 ATM Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 33 ATM Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

DEBIT TRANSACTIONS IN SWITZERLAND

HEADLINES

TRENDS

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

PROSPECTS

SECTOR DATA

Table 34 Debit Cards Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 35 Debit Cards Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 36 Debit Cards: Number of Cards by Issuer 2002-2006

Table 37 Debit Cards: Number of Cards by Operator 2002-2006

Table 38 Debit Cards Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 39 Debit Cards Transaction Value by Operator 2002-2006

Table 40 Debit Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 41 Debit Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS IN SWITZERLAND

HEADLINES

TRENDS

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

PROSPECTS

SECTOR DATA

Table 42 Credit Cards Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 43 Credit Cards Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 44 Personal Credit Cards Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 45 Personal Credit Cards Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 46 Corporate Credit Cards: Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 47 Corporate Credit Cards: Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 48 Credit Cards: Number of Cards by Issuer 2002-2006

Table 49 Credit Cards: Number of Cards by Operator 2002-2006

Table 50 Credit Cards Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 51 Credit Cards Transaction Value by Operator 2002-2006

Table 52 Personal Credit Cards Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 53 Personal Credit Cards Transaction Value by Operator 2002-2006

Table 54 Corporate Credit Cards Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 55 Corporate Credit Cards Transaction Value by Operator 2002-2006

Table 56 Credit Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 57 Credit Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

Table 58 Personal Credit Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 59 Personal Credit Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

Table 60 Corporate Credit Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 61 Corporate Credit Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

CHARGE CARD TRANSACTIONS IN SWITZERLAND

HEADLINES

TRENDS

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

PROSPECTS

SECTOR DATA

Table 62 Charge Cards Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 63 Charge Cards Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 64 Personal Charge Cards Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 65 Personal Charge Cards Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 66 Corporate Charge Cards: Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 67 Corporate Charge Cards: Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 68 Charge Cards: Number of Cards by Issuer 2002-2006

Table 69 Charge Cards: Number of Cards by Operator 2002-2006

Table 70 Charge Cards Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 71 Charge Cards Transaction Value by Operator 2002-2006

Table 72 Personal Charge Cards Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 73 Personal Charge Cards Transaction Value by Operator 2002-2006

Table 74 Corporate Charge Cards Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 75 Corporate Charge Cards Transaction Value by Operator 2002-2006

Table 76 Charge Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 77 Charge Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

Table 78 Personal Charge Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 79 Personal Charge Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

Table 80 Corporate Charge Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 81 Corporate Charge Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

PRE-PAID CARD TRANSACTIONS IN SWITZERLAND

HEADLINES

TRENDS

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

PROSPECTS

SECTOR DATA

Table 82 Pre-paid Cards Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 83 Pre-paid Cards Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 84 Pre-paid Cards: Number of Cards by Issuer 2002-2006

Table 85 Pre-paid Cards: Number of Cards by Operator 2002-2006

Table 86 Pre-paid Cards Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 87 Pre-paid Cards Transaction Value by Operator 2002-2006

Table 88 Pre-paid Cards by Type 2004-2007

Table 89 Pre-paid Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 90 Pre-paid Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

STORE CARD TRANSACTIONS IN SWITZERLAND

HEADLINES

TRENDS

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

PROSPECTS

SECTOR DATA

Table 91 Store Cards Sector Performance: 2002-2007

Table 92 Store Cards Sector Performance: % Growth 2002-2007

Table 93 Store Cards: Number of Cards by Issuer 2002-2006

Table 94 Store Cards Transactions by Acquirer 2002-2006

Table 95 Store Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: 2007-2012

Table 96 Store Cards: Forecast Sector Performance: % Growth 2007-2012

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