Prepaid Card Market In Europe Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2025 - 2030)

The Europe Prepaid Card Market is Segmented by Card Type (Multi-Purpose Open-Loop, and More), Card Model (Physical Cards, and More), Reloadability (Reloadable, and More), Usage (General Purpose Reloadable, and More), Vertical (Retail and E-Commerce, and More), Delivery Mode (Physical PoS Issued, and More), Distribution Channel (Bank Branches, and More), and by Geography. The Market Forecasts are Provided in Terms of Value (USD).

Europe Prepaid Cards Market Size and Share

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Europe Prepaid Cards Market Analysis by Mordor Intelligence

The Europe prepaid card market size is valued at USD 340.86 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach USD 550.13 billion by 2030, reflecting a steady 10.05% CAGR. Accelerated adoption of embedded-finance rails by neo-banks, mandatory instant-payment capabilities under the EU regulation effective 2024, and the rebound in Southern European tourism collectively sustain double-digit growth momentum.[1]European Commission, “Legislative proposal on instant payments,” finance.ec.europa.eu Physical cards continue to dominate everyday spending, yet virtual issuance is expanding quickly as corporate platforms and gig-work marketplaces demand instant provisioning and granular controls. Regulatory certainty under PSD2 and the forthcoming Payment Services Regulation encourages cross-border scalability, while tokenisation and mobile-wallet integrations lift security standards and user convenience. Incumbent payment networks defend pricing power even as interchange caps tighten, compelling issuers to monetise value-added services rather than pure transaction fees.

Key Report Takeaways

  • By card type, multi-purpose open-loop cards led with 76% of the Europe prepaid card market share in 2024, whereas single-purpose closed-loop cards are projected to grow at an 11.7% CAGR through 2030.
  • By the card model, physical cards held 68% revenue share in 2024; virtual cards exhibit the fastest expansion at an 11.2% CAGR to 2030.
  • By reloadability, reloadable products accounted for 63% of the Europe prepaid card market size in 2024, while non-reloadable formats advance at a 10.3% CAGR.
  • By usage, general-purpose reloadable cards captured 41% share in 2024, whereas payroll and incentive solutions are increasing at a 10.5% CAGR.
  • By geography, the United Kingdom retained 24% share of the Europe prepaid card market size in 2024; the Nordic region is the fastest-growing cluster, expanding at an 11.2% CAGR.

Segment Analysis

By Card Type: Open-Loop Strength, Closed-Loop Momentum

Multi-purpose open-loop solutions held 76% share in 2024, benefiting from universal merchant acceptance and regulatory harmonisation that streamlines cross-border top-ups. Instant-payment connectivity further enhances appeal to frequent travellers and SMEs operating pan-Europe. Government agencies, however, are adopting closed-loop architectures for asylum-seeker and tourism-voucher programmes, accelerating single-purpose card issuance at an 11.7% CAGR through 2030.

Closed-loop designs deliver granular spend controls, real-time analytics, and reduced fraud exposure, attributes suited to targeted subsidy and corporate-expense schemes. Municipal deployments in Germany and Greece showcase scalable templates that anchor future demand. As a result, closed-loop offerings widen their addressable base, even while open-loop formats remain the backbone of the Europe prepaid card market.

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By Card Model: Physical Resilience, Virtual Upswing

Physical variants accounted for 68% usage in 2024, reflecting consumer familiarity, backup utility when mobile batteries fail, and the prevalence of contactless acceptance across transit and retail networks. Senior segments and tourist populations still prefer tangible cards, stabilising absolute volumes.

Virtual cards, expanding at an 11.2% CAGR, dominate new-to-market issuance on embedded-finance platforms. Instant provisioning, tokenisation-driven security, and merchant-specific dynamic controls make them the default choice for corporate-expense and gig-payout programmes. Neo-banks harness these attributes to deepen wallet share, reinforcing structural gains for digital issuance inside the Europe prepaid card market.

By Reloadability: Flexible Products Prevail

Reloadable formats represented 63% revenue in 2024, aligning with the EU Instant Payments Regulation that supports perpetual top-ups and real-time fund availability. Budget-management features and recurring payroll loads anchor consumer loyalty, especially among migrant and gig-economy segments.

Non-reloadable cards nevertheless grow at a 10.3% CAGR, propelled by gift-card programmes below EUR 150 (USD 165) thresholds that enjoy simplified KYC verestro.com. Tourism-oriented single-load products gain traction as travellers seek fixed-budget tools, reinforcing balanced growth across reload profiles in the Europe prepaid card market.

By Usage: General-Purpose Dominance, Payroll Acceleration

General-purpose reloadable solutions retained 41% share in 2024 as households use them for day-to-day spend, cross-border remittances, and disciplined budgeting. Neo-bank onboarding funnels amplify adoption by positioning prepaid as a stepping stone toward full banking relationships.

Payroll and incentive cards, expanding 10.5% CAGR, capitalise on immediate wage-access demands in the gig and logistics sectors. Integrated tax and expense modules embed the product deep into platform ecosystems, driving repeat loads. Gift, benefit, and travel cards continue to fill niche use cases, diversifying revenue streams within the Europe prepaid card market.

By Vertical: Retail Leads, Corporate Expense Surges

Retail and e-commerce applications command 38% share as omnichannel merchants deploy prepaid for loyalty, acquisition, and closed-loop gift solutions. Spending analytics generated by retail cards create upsell opportunities and drive incremental footfall.

Corporate-expense programmes post a 10.7% CAGR as firms digitise spend controls in hybrid work environments. Edenred’s EUR 1.395 billion (USD 1.53 billion) H1 2024 revenue underscores scale potential. Integration with ERP and HR systems ensures policy compliance and auditability, magnifying the strategic appeal of prepaid within B2B contexts of the Europe prepaid card market.

By Delivery Mode: Digital-First Leadership

Digital-only provisioning captured 55% share in 2024, and it is growing fastest with 11.5% CAGR during the period. reflecting frictionless remote onboarding and zero physical-inventory costs. Fintech providers layer biometric ID verification and AI fraud screens to meet supervisory requirements while sustaining instant issuance.

Point-of-sale issued cards retain relevance for tourism and in-store gift applications, offering immediate tangibility and upsell potential at checkout. Nonetheless, falling unit costs for digital delivery and rising mobile-wallet penetration favour continued migration toward fully virtual distribution across the Europe prepaid card market.

Prepaid Cards Market: Market Share by Delivery Mode
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By Distribution Channel: Online Platforms in Ascendance

Online and app-based channels generated 59% of 2024 sales as consumers gravitate to self-service interfaces and contextual card provisioning within e-commerce checkouts. Social-commerce integrations further propel digital activation volume.

Retail reload kiosks and partner supermarkets grow 11.4% CAGR, bridging cash-to-digital conversion for unbanked populations. Bank branches and post offices maintain niche roles for high-value loads and identity-verified issuance, sustaining multi-channel equilibria throughout the Europe prepaid card market.

Geography Analysis

The United Kingdom leads the Europe prepaid card market with 24% share, leveraging a mature fintech talent base, progressive Financial Conduct Authority guidance, and rapid uptake of embedded-finance services. London-based issuers export models across the continent through passporting equivalence post-Brexit, preserving scale economies while adapting to distinct EEA compliance regimes.

Nordic countries collectively advance at an 11.2%CAGR, pairing account-to-account wallets such as Wero with prepaid overlays that deliver merchant ubiquity absent among domestic schemes. Consumers embrace hybrid payment stacks that toggle seamlessly between bank and stored-value rails, fostering innovation clusters in Stockholm and Helsinki.

Core Eurozone markets—Germany, France, Italy, and Spain—sustain depth via diversified use cases: corporate-expense controls in DACH, tourism travel cards along the Mediterranean corridor, and municipal voucher programmes targeting SME digitisation. The Netherlands and Belgium act as cross-border testing grounds for real-time FX and multicurrency propositions, while Poland extends the Europe prepaid card industry’s reach into rapidly growing Central European retail segments.

Competitive Landscape

Visa and Mastercard process 61% of euro-area card transactions, granting scale economies that partially offset interchange-fee compression. [4]European Central Bank, “Most EU countries rely on international card schemes for card payments,” ecb.europa.eu Their strategic extension of cap agreements to 2029 stabilises regulatory risk while prompting issuers to shift towards subscription and data-driven revenue constructs.

Neo-banks and embedded-finance specialists escalate rivalry by packaging prepaid cards as gateways to multicurrency accounts, crypto trading, and micro-savings products. Revolut’s USD 1 trillion annual transaction throughput and sustained profitability validate the platform thesis, while Solaris’ majority acquisition by SBI underscores capital-intensity and compliance overhead inherent in banking-as-a-service models.

Consolidation accelerates: Railsr’s USD 283 million purchase of Equals Group builds scale across FX and expense-management verticals, Edenred commits to 10% EBITDA growth via acquisitive expansion, and Visa bolsters risk analytics through its Featurespace buy-out. Competitive positioning now hinges on real-time fraud prevention, tokenisation breadth, and instant-credit transfer connectivity that deepen user engagement inside the Europe prepaid card market.

Europe Prepaid Cards Industry Leaders

  1. Visa

  2. Mastercard

  3. PayPal Holdings Inc.

  4. American Express Company

  5. Green Dot Corporation

  6. *Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order
Prepaid Card Market In Europe
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Recent Industry Developments

  • February 2025: Payrails partners with Mastercard to embed next-gen payment orchestration in enterprise ERP stacks, illustrating a platform scaling strategy that targets high-volume corporates.
  • January 2025: SBI Holdings acquires a majority stake in Solaris, injecting EUR 100–150 million (USD 109–164 million) to stabilise the BaaS provider and secure Asian-European corridor synergies.
  • December 2024: Railsr closes a USD 283 million all-cash acquisition of Equals Group to create a multi-currency powerhouse spanning prepaid, FX, and cross-border settlements.
  • December 2024: Edenred announces a EUR 600 million (USD 655 million) share-buyback and re-affirms ≥10% EBITDA growth targets, signalling confidence in corporate-expense demand.

Table of Contents for Europe Prepaid Cards Industry Report

1. INTRODUCTION

  • 1.1 Study Assumptions and Market Definition
  • 1.2 Scope of the Study

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4. Market Landscape

  • 4.1 Market Overview
  • 4.2 Market Drivers
    • 4.2.1 Rising Adoption of Embedded Finance by European Neo-banks
    • 4.2.2 EU Instant Payments Regulation Boosting Reloadable Prepaid Demand
    • 4.2.3 Payroll Digitisation by Gig-Work Platforms Across UK and DACH
    • 4.2.4 SEPA Instant Payments Mandate Accelerating Open-Loop Prepaid Adoption
    • 4.2.5 Tourism Rebound Driving Multi-Currency Travel Cards (Spain, Italy)
    • 4.2.6 Municipal Digital-Voucher Schemes Fueling Retail Closed-Loop Cards
    • 4.2.7 Tokenised Contactless and Mobile Wallet Integration of Prepaid Cards
  • 4.3 Market Restraints
    • 4.3.1 Interchange Fee Regulation Compressing Issuer Margins
    • 4.3.2 Declining Refugee Benefit Loads Post-2022 Peak
    • 4.3.3 A2A Wallet Proliferation in Nordics Cannibalising Prepaid Usage
    • 4.3.4 Fragmented AML/KYC Rules Elevating Cross-Border Issuance Costs
  • 4.4 Value / Supply-Chain Analysis
  • 4.5 Regulatory Outlook
  • 4.6 Technological Outlook
  • 4.7 Porter's Five Forces
    • 4.7.1 Threat of New Entrants
    • 4.7.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers
    • 4.7.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers
    • 4.7.4 Threat of Substitutes
    • 4.7.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry

5. Market Size and Growth Forecasts (Value)

  • 5.1 By Card Type
    • 5.1.1 Multi-purpose (Open-Loop)
    • 5.1.2 Single-purpose (Closed-Loop)
  • 5.2 By Card Model
    • 5.2.1 Physical Cards
    • 5.2.2 Virtual Cards
  • 5.3 By Reloadability
    • 5.3.1 Reloadable
    • 5.3.2 Non-Reloadable
  • 5.4 By Usage
    • 5.4.1 General Purpose Reloadable
    • 5.4.2 Gift Card
    • 5.4.3 Government Benefit Disbursement
    • 5.4.4 Payroll and Incentive
    • 5.4.5 Travel and Foreign Currency
    • 5.4.6 Other Usage
  • 5.5 By Vertical
    • 5.5.1 Retail and E-commerce
    • 5.5.2 Corporate Expense Management
    • 5.5.3 Government and Public Sector
    • 5.5.4 Financial Institutions and Fintech
    • 5.5.5 Travel and Hospitality
    • 5.5.6 Others
  • 5.6 By Delivery Mode
    • 5.6.1 Physical Point-of-Sale Issued
    • 5.6.2 Digital-Only / Wallet-Provisioned
  • 5.7 By Distribution Channel
    • 5.7.1 Bank Branches
    • 5.7.2 Online and Mobile Apps
    • 5.7.3 Retail Stores and Kiosks
    • 5.7.4 Others (Post Offices, Transit Hubs)
  • 5.8 By Geography
    • 5.8.1 United Kingdom
    • 5.8.2 Germany
    • 5.8.3 France
    • 5.8.4 Italy
    • 5.8.5 Spain
    • 5.8.6 Netherlands
    • 5.8.7 Nordics (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland)
    • 5.8.8 Poland
    • 5.8.9 Rest of Europe (Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, etc.)

6. Competitive Landscape

  • 6.1 Market Concentration
  • 6.2 Strategic Moves
  • 6.3 Market Share Analysis
  • 6.4 Company Profiles (includes Global level Overview, Market level overview, Core Segments, Financials as available, Strategic Information, Market Rank/Share for key companies, Products and Services, and Recent Developments)
    • 6.4.1 Mastercard Inc.
    • 6.4.2 Visa Inc.
    • 6.4.3 Paysafe Ltd. (paysafecard)
    • 6.4.4 Edenred SA
    • 6.4.5 American Express Co.
    • 6.4.6 PayPal Holdings Inc.
    • 6.4.7 Green Dot Corp.
    • 6.4.8 Revolut Ltd.
    • 6.4.9 N26 AG
    • 6.4.10 Sodexo Pass SA
    • 6.4.11 Wise Plc (Formerly TransferWise)
    • 6.4.12 Monese Ltd.
    • 6.4.13 PFS (a Paysafe company)
    • 6.4.14 Payoneer Global Inc.
    • 6.4.15 Soldo Ltd.
    • 6.4.16 B4B Payments Ltd.
    • 6.4.17 Railsr (Railsbank Technology)
    • 6.4.18 Monzo Bank Ltd.
    • 6.4.19 bunq BV
    • 6.4.20 Curve
    • 6.4.21 Adyen
    • 6.4.22 Finaro Ltd.
    • 6.4.23 FairFX / Equals Group PLC

7. Market Opportunities and Future Outlook

  • 7.1 White-space and Unmet-Need Assessment
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Europe Prepaid Cards Market Report Scope

Where consumers or companies prefer to utilize an electronic means of payment without attaching the payment to a credit or debit account, prepaid cards have replaced cash, checks, and other payment cards. However, various taxes and security concerns are projected to limit market expansion. Europe Prepaid Card Market segmented By Card Type (Multi-Purpose, Single-purpose), Vertical (Retail, Corporate Institutions, Government, Financial Institutions & Others), Usage (General Purpose Reloadable Cards, Gift Card, Government Benefits Disbursement Card, Incentive Payroll Card), Geography (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Netherlands, and Spain).

By Card Type Multi-purpose (Open-Loop)
Single-purpose (Closed-Loop)
By Card Model Physical Cards
Virtual Cards
By Reloadability Reloadable
Non-Reloadable
By Usage General Purpose Reloadable
Gift Card
Government Benefit Disbursement
Payroll and Incentive
Travel and Foreign Currency
Other Usage
By Vertical Retail and E-commerce
Corporate Expense Management
Government and Public Sector
Financial Institutions and Fintech
Travel and Hospitality
Others
By Delivery Mode Physical Point-of-Sale Issued
Digital-Only / Wallet-Provisioned
By Distribution Channel Bank Branches
Online and Mobile Apps
Retail Stores and Kiosks
Others (Post Offices, Transit Hubs)
By Geography United Kingdom
Germany
France
Italy
Spain
Netherlands
Nordics (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland)
Poland
Rest of Europe (Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, etc.)
By Card Type
Multi-purpose (Open-Loop)
Single-purpose (Closed-Loop)
By Card Model
Physical Cards
Virtual Cards
By Reloadability
Reloadable
Non-Reloadable
By Usage
General Purpose Reloadable
Gift Card
Government Benefit Disbursement
Payroll and Incentive
Travel and Foreign Currency
Other Usage
By Vertical
Retail and E-commerce
Corporate Expense Management
Government and Public Sector
Financial Institutions and Fintech
Travel and Hospitality
Others
By Delivery Mode
Physical Point-of-Sale Issued
Digital-Only / Wallet-Provisioned
By Distribution Channel
Bank Branches
Online and Mobile Apps
Retail Stores and Kiosks
Others (Post Offices, Transit Hubs)
By Geography
United Kingdom
Germany
France
Italy
Spain
Netherlands
Nordics (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland)
Poland
Rest of Europe (Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, etc.)
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Key Questions Answered in the Report

What is the current value of the Europe prepaid card market?

The Europe prepaid card market size stands at USD 340.86 billion in 2025.

How fast is the market expected to grow?

It is projected to expand at a 10.05%CAGR, reaching USD 550.13 billion by 2030.

Which card type holds the largest market share?

Multi-purpose open-loop cards led with 76% share in 2024.

Which geographic region is growing the fastest?

The Nordic region posts the highest growth trajectory at an 11.2%CAGR through 2030.

How are interchange-fee caps affecting issuers?

Caps extended to 2029 compress transaction-based margins, prompting issuers to pivot toward subscription and data-driven revenue models.

What role do neo-banks play in market expansion?

Neo-banks accelerate growth by embedding prepaid functionality in third-party apps, enabling instant digital issuance and cross-border scalability.

Page last updated on: July 7, 2025

Europe Prepaid Cards Market Report Snapshots