Credit Card Issuer Market Share: Top 25 Issuers (2025)

Credit cards are an enormous business. This economic sector is so large that even after decades of writing about financial subjects, I’m still astounded by the numbers. In the U.S. alone, consumers and businesses used credit cards to purchase more than $5.8 trillion in goods and services in 2023.

That $5.8 trillion was generated by more than 60.6 billion card transactions. By the end of the year, customers owed credit card companies more than $1.2 trillion — that’s trillion with a “t.”

2023 was a good year for the credit card industry and credit card companies. Spending on goods and services, or purchase volume, rose 6.8%; the number of purchase transactions increased by 8.1%; and total credit card debt at year-end saw an increase of 11.7% from the total credit card debt for the same period in 2022. 

Card debt generates income for card companies through interest charges, late-payment penalties, and other fees.

Those numbers come from a February 2024 Nilson Report that ranked the largest issuers of Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover cards based on their outstanding receivables — or debt owed to them — at the end of 2023. Receivables for card companies are debts for cardholders. The report included cards for businesses and consumers.

A high ranking based on outstanding receivables doesn’t necessarily mean a company is more profitable for its investors or friendlier to its customers. Still, I’m impressed. Read on to find out more about the biggest credit card issuers in the U.S. and you may be as well.

The top 10 card issuers include all the biggest brand names in the business. Chase, Citi, Capital One, Bank of America, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo, which issue Visa and Mastercard cards, are in the top eight, along with American Express and Discover, which issue their own cards. Barclays and Synchrony Financial rounded out the top 10.

These financial companies are so large that they touch many, many people’s lives. Over the years, I’ve personally had at least one bank account or credit card from six of the top 10 on the list.

Together, the top five issuers — Chase, American Express, Citi, Capital One, and Bank of America — accounted for 69% of the total U.S. credit card purchase volume for the first six months of 2024, according to a September 2024 Nilson Report. Add the next 25 to the group for a total of 30 and, together, they accounted for 90.89% of the total purchase activity for that period.

Here’s the full list of the top 30 issuers in rank order by outstanding receivables with the percentage change from the same date in the prior year. 

For all issuers, outstanding receivables include any American Express, Discover, Mastercard, or Visa cards, but not private-label cards. American Express receivables don’t include cards issued by other issuers. 

Receivables for Citi, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Barclays, Navy Federal Credit Union, USAA, Credit One Bank, and Bread Financial include American Express cards, as well as Visa and Mastercard cards. Purchase volume and total volume for those issuers include only Visa and Mastercard cards.

Notably, all the top Visa and Mastercard issuers achieved at least some growth in purchase volume and total volume in 2024. The big got bigger.

The total number of cards, for Visa and Mastercard issuers only, include consumer, business, commercial, virtual, and one-time-use cards. All figures for cards, purchase volume, and total volume are as of mid-year 2024 with comparisons to mid-year 2023.

1. Chase

Market share: 17.27%

Receivables: $216.10 billion

Change: +12.9%

Cards: 114.8 million

After topping the ranks in 2023, Chase held on to its No. 1 ranking in 2024 with a commanding 17.27% market share.

The company posted the fourth-largest increase in outstanding receivables, up almost 13% despite a decline of almost 10% in its number of cards. The three top-10 issuers with larger gains in receivables were Goldman Sachs, up 14.5%, Wells Fargo, up 13.9%, and Synchrony, up 12.4%.

Only one other top-10 Visa and Mastercard issuer posted a decline in its number of cards. That was Barclays with a 7.6% drop.

Chase also posted significant gains in midyear purchase volume and total volume, both up 7.4% to $647 billion and $655 billion, respectively.

Chase is incorporated in Delaware.

2. American Express

Market share: 12.31%

Receivables: $154.11 billion

Change: +9.8%

American Express captured a market share of 12.3%. That share put AmEx in second position behind only Chase on this list.

AmEx is headquartered in New York.

3. Citi 

Market share: 10.94%

Receivables: $136.95 billion

Change: +8.4%

Cards: 80 million

Citi held on to third place with a market share of almost 11%, behind only the market-leading, Chase, and second-place finisher, Amex, and only slightly ahead of fourth-place finisher, Capital One.

Citi achieved 2.8% growth in purchase volume and total volume, which reached $293 billion and $298 billion, respectively. The only three lower-ranked among the top-10 Visa and Mastercard issuers by this metric were PNC, Barclays, and Bank of America with purchase volume growth of 2.3%, 1.9%, and 1%, respectively, and total volume growth of 1.6%, 2.4%, and 0.6%, respectively.

Citi’s card count was up 1.0%.

Citi is headquartered in South Dakota.

4. Capital One

Market share: 10.74%

Receivables: $134.47 billion

Change: +8.9%

Cards: 110 million

Capital One posted an 8.9% gain in market share to almost 10.74%, enough to remain in fourth place overall, behind Citi, Amex, and Chase, and ahead of Bank of America, and in 

third place, right on the heels of Citi, among the Visa and Mastercard issuers. 

Purchase volume and total volume at Capital One rose 5.6% to $288 billion and $293 billion, respectively, again right on Citi’s heels.

Capital One’s card count was up 0.5%.

Capital One is headquartered in Virginia.

5. Bank of America

Market share: 9.23%

Receivables: $115.57 billion

Change: +3.6%

Cards: 57 million

With its market share up 3.6% to 9.23%, Bank of America remained in fifth place in the overall rankings, between Capital One and Discover.

That 3.6% was the smallest percentage gain in market share among the top 10 issuers.

Bank of America also posted the smallest percentage gains in purchase volume, up 1% to $247 billion, and total volume, up 0.6% to $258 billion. Both figures were more than double those of the next-ranked issuers, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo, with purchase volume and total volume of about $100 billion.

Bank of America is headquartered in North Carolina.

6. Discover

Market share: 8%

Receivables: $100.07 billion

Change: +6.5%

Discover captured a market share of 8%, based on outstanding receivables at midyear 2024. That share put Discover in sixth position between Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

Discover is headquartered in Illinois.

7. Wells Fargo

Market share: 4%

Receivables: $50.04 billion

Change: +12.2%

Cards: 24.2 million

Wells Fargo was one of only four top-25 Visa and Mastercard issuers that moved up in the midyear 2024 rankings based on outstanding receivables, besting U.S. Bank, which lost the fifth-place position that Wells Fargo captured.

Wells Fargo’s advance may have been helped by gains of more than 13% in both purchase volume and total volume, which rose to $100 billion and $104 billion, respectively. Both volume figures were slightly lower for Wells Fargo than for U.S. Bank, but still boosted Wells Fargo’s receivables higher than U.S. Bank’s.

Wells Fargo is headquartered in San Francisco.

8. U.S. Bank

Market share: 3.93%

Receivables: $49.12 billion

Change: +7.8%

Cards: 24.4 million

With a market share of 3.93%, U.S. Bank kept its spot in the top 10, but dropped below Wells Fargo’s 4% share.

The two banks’ card counts were similar at about 24 million, but U.S. Bank grew its count only 3.2% compared with Wells Fargo’s card growth of 12.8%, the highest in the top 10.

U.S. Bank’s purchase volume rose 4.1% to $103 billion, while total volume rose 4.7% to $106 billion. Both volume figures were slightly higher than Wells Fargo’s, but didn’t push U.S. Bank’s receivables as high.

U.S. Bank is headquartered in Minneapolis.

9. Barclays

Market share: 2.48%

Receivables: $31.08 billion

Change: +5.7%

Cards: 25.0 million

Barclays reached midyear 2024 with a 2.48% market share based on outstanding receivables. Purchase volume and total volume were up 1.9% to $56 billion and 2.4% to $58 billion, respectively. That level of activity placed Barclays out of reach of the rivalry between U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo, but well above lower-placed competitors. 

If a 2.48% market share seems small, keep in mind that these are trillion-dollar markets. Slim slices are still considerable sums of money.

The Barclays corporate office is located in Delaware.

10. Navy Federal Credit Union

Market share: 2.38%

Receivables: $29.74 billion

Change: +10.0%

Cards: 6.9 million

Navy Federal Credit Union was the only credit union among the top 10 U.S. card issuers based on midyear 2024 outstanding receivables, which were up 8.7% at Navy Federal.

Also noteworthy was Navy Federal’s relatively smaller base of just 6.85 million cards.

Navy Federal is based in Virginia.

With the top 10 card issuers controlling 81.3% of the market, the rest are left to divvy up the remaining share of 18.7%.

Here are the next 15. Only No. 11, Synchrony Financial, had a market share of more than 2% based on mid-year 2024 outstanding receivables. We didn’t include the market share for any issuers that were under 2%.

11. Synchrony Financial

Market share: 2.13%

Receivables: $26.67 billion

Change: +12.4%

Cards: 29 million

Synchrony Financial wasn’t a top-10 issuer in these rankings, but still held a significant market share of 2.13% with midyear 2024 outstanding receivables of almost $27 billion. 

Also noteworthy was Synchrony’s 29 million cards, which far surpassed Navy Federal’s 6.85 million, and was even higher than Wells Fargo’s and U.S. Bank’s 24 million each, and Barclays’ 25 million.

Synchrony’s corporate office is in Stamford, Connecticut. The company was spun off from GE Capital in 2015.

12. Goldman Sachs

Receivables: $19.33 billion

Change: +14.5%

Cards: 10.4 million

Only four of the top-10 Visa and Mastercard issuers had a double-digit year-over-year percentage increase in outstanding receivables at midyear 2024. Goldman Sachs led the pack with a 14.5% increase.

Goldman Sachs is headquartered in New York City.

13. USAA

Receivables: $16.53 billion

Change: +8.2%

Cards: 6.5 million

USAA is a diversified financial services company that serves military personnel, veterans, and their families. The company has 13.5 million members worldwide.

USAA is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

14. Credit One Bank

Receivables: $12.87 billion

Change: +9.3%

Cards: 16.9 million

Credit One Bank ranked 12th among the top Visa and Mastercard issuers in midyear 2024 with outstanding receivables of almost $13 billion, including its Amex cards. Purchase volume and total volume for its Visa and Mastercard cards were both down 8% to $6.98 billion and $7.10 billion, respectively.

Credit One is headquartered in Las Vegas.

15. FNBO

Receivables: $8.38 billion

Change: -2.2%

Cards: 6.1 million

FNBO, formerly known as First National Bank of Omaha, has $31 billion in assets and serves customers in Colorado, Texas, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, and Wyoming.

FNBO is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

16. TD Bank

Receivables: $8.12 billion

Change: +9%

Cards: 7.9 million

TD Bank is a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada. The U.S. bank has branches in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, Washington, D.C., the Carolinas, and Florida. 

The corporate head office is in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

17. PNC

Receivables: $7.95 billion

Change: -4.4%

Cards: 6.8 million

PNC is a financial company that offers retail, corporate, and institutional banking, and asset management services. The company has approximately 2,200 branch locations in 27 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

PNC is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

18. Bread Financial

Receivables: $6.85 billion

Change: +5.5%

Cards: 13.3 million

Bread Financial is a technology provider and consumer-direct financial services company that provides payment, lending, and saving services, including private-label and co-brand credit cards and buy now, pay later products.

Bread Financial is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

19. Truist

Receivables: $4.92 billion

Change: -9.6%

Cards: 4.3 million

Truist is a financial services company that provides personal, small business, wealth management, and commercial, corporate, and institutional financial services in 17 U.S. and the District of Columbia. The company was formed in December 2019 through a merger of BB&T and SunTrust Bank.

Truist is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

20. Merrick Bank

Receivables: $3.79 billion

Change: -3%

Cards: 3.3 million

Founded in 1997, Merrick Bank offers certificates of deposit, RV, boat, horse trailer, and powersports equipment loans; credit cards and personal loans for people who want to build or rebuild their credit; and financial services for various types of merchants, including non-traditional businesses.

Merrick Bank is incorporated in Utah.

21. Mercury Financial

Receivables: $3.31 billion

Change: +20% 

Cards: 2.2 million

Founded in 2013, Mercury Financial offers credit cards to people whose credit is less than prime, but better than subprime. Cards are issued by First Bank & Trust in Brookings, S.D. The company serves about 1.5 million customers with more than $6 billion in credit lines.

Mercury Financial has two locations, one in Austin, Texas, and one in Wilmington, Del.

22. Citizens Bank

Receivables: $2.40 billion

Change: -5.6%

Cards: 4.1 million

Citizens Bank offers retail banking, lending and savings, wealth management, and commercial banking services to individuals, small businesses, mid-sized companies, corporations, and institutions through more than 1,000 branch locations in 14 states and the District of Columbia. 

Citizens is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

23. Mission Lane

Receivables: $2.29 billion

Change: +31.9%

Cards: 2.4 million

Mission Lane is a venture-capital-funded fintech company that offers technology-oriented financial products to people who have less-than-perfect credit or a limited credit history. 

The company became independent in December 2018, when it was spun off from LendUp. Cards are issued by Transportation Alliance Bank, (also known as TAB Bank) or WebBank.

Mission Lane is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

24. Fifth Third Bank

Receivables: $2.28 billion

Change: -4.1%

Cards: 4.5 million

Fifth Third Bank offers consumer banking and lending, commercial banking, and wealth and asset management services. The bank operates more than 1,000 locations in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. 

Fifth Third Bank is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

25. PenFed Credit Union

Receivables: $2.18 billion

Change: -9.5%

Cards: 0.56 million

Founded in 1935, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union, known as PenFed, offers checking and savings accounts, credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and other consumer financial services. The organization has 2.9 million members worldwide.

PenFed is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

For the record, here are the next five largest credit card issuers, listed according to rank, with their state of incorporation for financial companies and banks, or headquarters location for the one credit union:

26. Ally Financial, North Carolina

27. BMO, Illinois

28. Regions Financial, Alabama

29. BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union), Washington

30. First PREMIER® Bank, Nevada