I would like to find out the percentage of people using VISA or MasterCard or Paypal, or American Express, etc. when they purchase goods through the Internet.

Anyone have these statistics? Worldwide, or by country or simply in your own business?

Thanks

I think Chris posted these awhile back. But one thing to keep in mind - it also depends on your clients. The stats are just that - it is an average.

While Paypal might be great for a bookstore, I would not recommend it for high-end jewelry. For the most part, Visa is the most widely used card though

In our own business, I'd say it breaks down as follows:

75% - Visa
10% - M/C
10% - Check
5% - PayPal

Of course, these are rough estimates, but Visa certainly tops the charts.

How about American Express, Discover, and Diners Club?

I think it'd be more useful if someone has a breakdown of which age segment pays using which methods most often. Does anyone have anything like this? :D

I have things reversed here, MC is so popular, and few VISA purchases.

Trade ya :D

For Hosting by sA we have mostly younger clients (15-18) that use paypal apparently because their parents have linked their credit card to it and give the kids x amount of money to spend monthly.

Thank you all for your reply. Very useful answers. I find it interesting that no one mentioned American Express or Discover as a primary method of payment. It looks like VISA and MC together cover a broad range. With paypal in addition if your market is the younger crowd or/and if you are selling inexpensive items.

My business is located in Canada but our products are for international buyers. We think that at least 95% of the buyers will be from outside of Canada. So I am also trying to find out what are the preferred method for Europeans, Australians, South Americans, etc.

Thanks

:D
I was wondering how about :
(1) check/cheque
(2) bank draft
(3) money order/international money order
(4) wire transfer
(5) Western Union
(6) cash....???:)

In my experience (being in Canada) from running web sites and also working in brick and mortar stores is that Visa and MasterCard pretty much run the show with American Express a distant third and Discover barely on the radar.

I found that Visa was the most predominate card in Canada because most of the banks have agreements with Visa to sell their products. In the USA, American Express is making a come back ever since they launched a new product line that didn't require you to pay off your balance each month to avoid huge penalities.

I think that if you only accept Visa, MasterCard and perhaps allow for Money Orders or Checks to be sent - you will be fine. I don't imagine there are too many customers out there that only own American Express and not also a Visa / MC.

As for Europeans, they have Switch and Solo cards that are quite popular. Unfortunately there are not too many North American payment processors that support these cards. WorldPay supports them but for a Canadian business, their setup and monthly fees are quite high.

As for Cavalry asking about other methods of payments, this is my point of view:

(1) check/cheque
Accept them but insist on waiting for them to clear before you ship/send the product. For checks within your country, approx 5 business days. For international checks, 14 days or more depending on the country the check came from.

(2) bank draft
Tough one. Canadian banks treat US bank drafts (or cashiers checks) as if they are personal checks and usually places a hold on them of a long time (two weeks at least). I would only accept bank drafts from your home country.

(3) money order/international money order
To risky. Many people in the US when purchasing a Money Order from the Post Office will buy the Green Money Orders and they are useless in Canada. US customers have to purchase the PINK money orders. Again, I would only accept Money Orders from my home country.

(4) wire transfer
Way too expensive! Ask your bank how much they charge to receive a wire transfer. Also ask them how much it costs if the currency of the bank transfer is different that your bank account currency.

(5) Western Union
Takes to long to trace if there is a dispute. Western Union can take up to 45 days to trace a money transfer if there is every a dispute.

(6) cash....???
No way! Customer sends you cash and you receive it but say you didn't. No proof - no tracking. In some countries, it is illegal to send cash through the mail.

Online I use only PayPal for my tangible products export business, mostly to the US. Because of reluctance of many US buyers to give out credit card info over the web to far-away sellers.
Offline I accept orders by mail, in the form of checks, MO's, or cash.
Sales to dealers I know and trust for years; they mostly pay COD, always by check.

Approx. split ($ volume):
70% PayPal
20% check or (mostly USPS) MO, most in USD, some in EUR
10% cash in USD, EUR, GBP

It depends a lot on what you are selling and to whom. And of course where you are.