Payment Cards Show Chip Shortage Resilience by Shipping 3 Billion Units in 2022

The payments industry considers 2022 to be the make-or-break year for the market. With stocks now largely depleted, the exact extent of the chip shortage impact is being felt. Global technology intelligence firm ABI Research forecasts payment card shipments to reach 3.029 billion in 2022, a slight drop from the 3.11 billion shipments in 2021.

The payment cards market has proved more resilient to the effects of the pandemic and ongoing chip shortage than initially anticipated, particularly when compared to other smart card verticals, such as SIM cards.

The industry should begin to see additional capacity becoming available at the end of 2023. However, recovery will not match issuance levels seen in pre-COVID years. Growth will be limited compared to previous expectations due to a continuation of chip supply constraints, increases in component, material, and supply chain costs as well as consumers looking to reduce spending and debt where possible, owing to the global rise in inflation and energy costs which will contribute to lower transaction volumes in the near future.