Competition in the local card market shows significant changes in the rankings with information up to June 2023. One of the strongest impacts has been the situation of BANCO FASSIL, which has ceased to exist as a bank and is now a financial intervened institution.
The local regulatory authority ensured that the bank's assets exceed its liabilities, thus guaranteeing the return of clients' savings. The intervention was carried out due to the cessation of payments and operations that did not comply with current regulations and the portfolio is reabsorbed between different entities. This has modified the market shares of each competitor significantly compared to the same quarter of 2022.
Credit Card Issuers in Bolivia
Highest year-on-year market share growth ranking
Credit Card outstanding receivables
In this context, it should be considered that the credit and debit card market in Bolivia has experienced constant growth in recent years, according to our latest market research report. The data shows that the volume of payments with credit and debit cards in December 2022 reached BO$16,937 million, with an annual growth of 13.7%. In addition, 83.3 million point-of-sale (POS) transactions were recorded, representing an increase of 21.8% over the previous year.
However, the most recent data for April 2023 shows a slight slowdown in market growth. The total amount of card payments was BO$ 5,913 million, with an annual growth of 9.8%. Regarding POS transactions, 29.4 million have been carried out so far this year, which represents an increase of 10.4% compared to the previous year. Although growth is lower than in previous periods, the credit and debit card market continues to be solid and with prospects for expansion.
Considering credit card outstanding receivables market share, BANCO NACIONAL DE BOLIVIA leads with 18.3% share, followed by BANCO BISA with 18.2% and BANCO ECONOMICO with 15.9%. In terms of market share considering portfolio lines volume, the three main credit card issuing banks in Bolivia are BANCO ECONOMICO, BANCO DE CREDITO DE BOLIVIA and BANCO BISA. According to our data from June 2023, BANCO ECONOMICO leads with a market share of 17.7%, closely followed by BANCO DE CREDITO with 17.6%. BANCO BISA ranks third with a 15.8% share. These banks have experienced a significant increase in their market share compared to the previous year. In June 2022 they held 13.8%, 16.8% and 12% market share respectively.
Regarding the number of debit and credit cards in circulation, a positive interannual variation is observed. Until the second quarter of 2023, the number of debit cards in the local market was maintained while credit cards suffered a slight decrease compared to the previous year. This shows a strong slowdown compared to the progress that debit and credit cards showed to December 2022 (+12% and +11% year-on-year, respectively).
Despite this slight contraction in the acquisition of new cards in the first part of 2023 and a complex financial environment, the demand for electronic payment services continues to be strong in Bolivia and with great growth potential in the medium term.
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