The Cost of a Changing Payments Mix: Plummeting International Spend

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many direct and indirect effects on consumer spending.

A clear and obvious direct effect has been a decrease in international travel and therefore, international spending volumes. In this article, we will analyse the indirect effects this will have, including revenue hits for the major card brands, and varying financial impacts for merchants.

Cross-border spending is a large revenue source for many merchants. Although it fluctuates significantly, the average U.S. merchant can usually expect to see around 5% of their volume from international consumers, while in Europe this is as high as 10%.