Consumer Payments Country Snapshot in Belgium

Consumer Payments Country Snapshot: Belgium

Summary

Belgium has one of the more developed payment card markets globally, having seen steady growth in payment card issuance and usage over the past few years, even in the face of the global financial downturn. However, due to its strong economy and the high level of card penetration the market is becoming saturated, with fierce competition between card issuers. Consumers in Belgium have a much stronger preference towards the usage of debit cards over credit cards, hence there are opportunities in the credit card segment of the market.

Key Findings

- Belgians are comfortable with debit cards, using them an average of 75 times per year. Pay-now cards are more commonly held than pay-later cards, and they are used twice as often. Credit and charge cards represent about 22% of the payment cards market, hence issuers have an opportunity to drive the uptake and usage of pay-later cards through incentives.

- E-commerce accounts for the vast majority of online purchases in Belgium. Nevertheless m-commerce is quickly gaining ground, with this market expected to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41% over the next five years. As Belgian consumers become more comfortable with online payments generally, and mobile commerce in particular, this market will see robust growth.

- Consumers in Belgium are generally apathetic towards mobile proximity payments, despite the rapid development of contactless payments in markets around neighboring countries. However, those consumers who do use mobile wallets hold highly positive attitudes towards them, so growth is likely in the medium term.

Synopsis

Consumer Payments Country Snapshot: Belgium covers the consumer payment environment in Belgium. Divided into three main sections, the report starts by looking at the proximity payment segment focusing on payment cards. The next section focuses on remote payment such as online and mobile payments....