UnionPay has grabbed the top spot from Visa in terms of the amount spent in the $22 trillion global payment cards market in 2015.

The latest figures from research firm RBR show that UnionPay accounted for a 37 per cent share of card spend last year, ahead of Visa on 32 per cent and MasterCard on 20 per cent. The remaining spend was accounted for by American Express, Diners Club and JCB.

This is the first time UnionPay has usurped Visa when it comes to value, but the Chinese card scheme has had the largest number of cards in circulation since 2010. By the end of 2015 there were 5.3 billion UnionPay-branded cards, accounting for 41 per cent of the card base worldwide.

Across all card networks, the total number of payment cards in circulation globally increased by eight per cent last year to 13 billion. However, this was a fall in growth rate from the 11 per cent posted in 2014. Last year, the greatest rises were seen in the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific, where card numbers climbed by 13 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

But while UnionPay’s recent growth was “impressive”, RBR noted that it had been the sole result of rapid expansion in its domestic market. Outside of China, UnionPay had an expenditure share of just 0.5 per cent, whereas Visa and MasterCard registered 50 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.

RBR’s Chris Herbert commented: “Despite its rapid recent expansion, increases in UnionPay’s share will be more gradual going forward as a result of slowing growth in its home market. Moreover the Chinese market is opening up to foreign players following the end of UnionPay’s monopoly on domestic bank card clearing in June 2015.”

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