The way women pay is changing fast, with digital options increasingly replacing traditional plastic at the checkout. New FNB data reveals a striking 23% year-on-year surge in virtual-card spending among female credit-card customers, significantly outpacing the 16% growth recorded among men.
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The shift is the widest gender gap across the credit-card payment measures analysed, highlighting how women are embracing digital channels for greater convenience, control and security as more everyday spending moves online.
The year-to-date credit-card transaction data shows that this forms part of a broader shift in how women pay. Card-not-present transactions, typically associated with online and in-app purchases, increased by 9% among women, compared with 7% among men. Card-present transactions grew more moderately, rising by 4% among women and 3% among men.
At the same time, spending on traditional plastic credit cards declined by 1% across both men and women. Together these figures indicate growing use of digitally enabled credit card payment channels, with women recording stronger growth.
Marcel Jansen van Rensburg, Manager: Credit Card Data Science at FNB, says the data shows how quickly digital payments are becoming part of women’s everyday financial lives.
“Women are showing a strong willingness to embrace new ways to pay. The 23% growth in virtual card spend is not an isolated result. It sits alongside faster growth in online and digitally enabled transactions, showing how women are incorporating safer, more convenient payment tools into their everyday credit-card spending.”
FNB virtual cards give customers a convenient way to pay online without using the details of a physical bank card. They can be created and managed digitally through the FNB app, giving customers greater control over how they transact and an additional layer of protection when shopping online.
Spending patterns shift
The data measures growth in spend rather than the number of customers adopting virtual cards. It therefore shows how strongly the payment channel is being used, rather than how many customers have adopted it.
Women’s credit-card spend increased by 6% year on year, compared with 4% among men. While men continue to account for a larger share of total credit-card spend, the amount spent by women is growing faster.
The growth is evident across a broad mix of spending categories. Fuel recorded the strongest growth in women’s credit-card spend at 20%. This should be viewed in the context of higher fuel prices, which have raised the cost of everyday travel. General Retail followed at 16.5%, reflecting continued spending on a broad range of household and personal needs.
Health and wellbeing also remained part of women’s credit-card spending mix. Spend on Medical Expenses and Pharmacies & Wellbeing increased by approximately 4% year on year.
Lifestyle and experience-led categories remained positive, although at more moderate levels. Credit-card spend on Travel & Holidays, Eating Out & Treats, and Clothing & Accessories each increased by between 4% and 5%.
Digital spending expands
“The category data shows that women are using their credit cards across a wide range of transactions, from fuel and general retail to health, travel and eating out,” says Jansen van Rensburg. “These spending patterns give us a view of where growth is taking place, while the payment data shows a clear move towards digital ways to pay.
“As more shopping and daily activity move online, customers need payment options designed for that environment,” concludes Jansen van Rensburg. “The growth in women’s virtual-card spend shows the importance of making credit-card payments simple, convenient and safer, particularly as customers manage more of their everyday financial lives through digital channels.”
