International Card Manufacturers Association Releases Global Statistics on 2015 Market Trends

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., April 29, 2016 -- The International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA), a global trade association for card manufacturers, personalizers, issuers and supplier, announced this spring the release of its 2015 Global Card Market and Personalization and Fulfillment Statistics Reports.

The comprehensive reports — which found $26.5 billion in revenues equating to the production of 35.1 billion cards in 2015 — are a source of valuable card industry data generated from primary and secondary research and statistical modeling created by Al Vrancart, ICMA founder emeritus and industry advisor.

"The global card industry continues to provide growth opportunities in several geographic regional and vertical markets," Vrancart said. "The reports reveal a 0.9 percent global card unit growth to 35.1 billion cards manufactured with $26.5 billion in revenues, representing a 13 percent dollar growth to $19.2 billion in 2015. There was $7.3 billion of personalization and fulfillment services provided in 2015. Adoption of more expensive chip cards continues to drive global growth with 37 percent of all cards now having a chip, which represents 87 percent of the value of cards manufactured. The outlook for 2016 and beyond is for continued robust global dollar growth and modest card unit growth."

The reports examine five regional markets: North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific. Within these regions, the reports analyze card units manufactured in 12 vertical market segments: Prepaid Phone, SIM Mobile Phone, Financial, Gift, Government/Health, Retail and Gas, Transportation, Loyalty and Promotional, ID and Membership, Access Control, Unprinted Blanks and Other.

Highlights from the card market reports include:

• Asia Pacific is No. 1 with 4.8 percent unit and 16.6 percent dollar growth over the prior year.
• North America is No. 2 in units with 1.3 percent growth and No. 3 in dollars with 22.7 percent growth driven by financial chip card growth.
• Europe ranks No. 2 in dollars and No. 3 in units with growth of 0.2 percent in dollars and 4.5 percent in units.
• Prepaid phone cards make up the largest unit market with 6.9 billion cards manufactured but rank 10th in dollars at $296 million.
• SIM cards make up the largest dollar market at $7 billion and third largest unit market at 5.3 billion cards.
• Financial cards make up the second largest unit market and dollar market at 5.4 billion cards and $4.8 billion.
• The global personalization and fulfillment market processed 29.8 billion cards for $7.3 billion.

The global card manufacturing market is valued at $19.2 billion and the personalization and fulfillment services market is valued at $7.3 billion, making the overall global card industry a $26.5 billion market.

The full reports are available to ICMA members on the ICMA website via www.icma.com. Non-members may purchase the reports for $1,500. ICMA membership information can be found on the ICMA website at www.icma.com or by calling 609-799-4900.

About ICMA

Based in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, the International Card Manufacturers Association is a trade organization of card manufacturers, personalizers, suppliers and vendors. With more than 240 members globally, ICMA serves as a resource for industry issues, including the production, technology, application, security and environmental aspects of plastic cards. More information is available via www.icma.com.

Photos accompanying this release are available at:

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=40063

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=40064

CONTACT: Jen Samuel
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