Women’s virtual card Spend increased by 86.9% YoY

 First National Bank (FNB) has released new insights into women’s spending patterns across its retail segment, revealing a significant year-on-year (YoY) growth and a marked shift toward digital and lifestyle-driven transactions.

Women accounted for 44.6% of the total retail spend in 2024, with their overall spend increasing by 5.3% YoY and transaction volumes rising by 6.3%. This growth outpaced that of men, whose spend rose by 2.9% and transaction volumes by 5.3%.

“Women continue to be a powerful force in the retail economy, and their adoption of digital payment solutions continues to accelerate at an impressive rate,” said Senzo Nsibande, CEO of FNB Credit Card.

“At FNB, we’re proud to see how women across South Africa are embracing digital banking tools like our virtual cards to manage their finances with greater security, flexibility, and confidence. In fact, over the past year we’ve seen that women’s virtual card spend since launch to December 2024 was R36.2 billion, which contributed 39.7% to the total virtual card spend of R91.0 billion over the same period. This shift reflects not just a technological evolution, but a powerful movement towards financial independence and inclusion, with innovative solutions that meet their needs and elevate their financial journeys,” says Nsibande.

Key Highlights:

• Credit Card Usage: Women contributed 37.4% of total Credit Card spend, with a 2.5% YoY increase in spend and 2.4% growth in transaction volumes.
• Virtual Card Adoption: Spend via Virtual Cards surged by 99.3% YoY among women, compared to 77.3% among men. Virtual Card usage grew from 6.1% of total spend in 2023 to 11.5% in 2024.
• Online Spending: Women’s online spend rose by 17.7% YoY, with 21.5% of their total spend occurring online, compared to 19.1% for men.
• Virtual Credit Card Transactions: Spend increased by 86.9% YoY, with 19.4% of women’s Credit Card spend conducted via Virtual Cards in 2024.
• Online Credit Card Spend: Women spent 33% of their Credit Card total online, up 8.1% YoY, compared to 30.7% for men.

On spend categories, women’s top spending categories include Groceries, Clothing & Accessories, Eating Out & Treats, as well as Fuel. For online purchases, the leading categories are Travel & Holidays, Groceries, and General Retail. Credit Card purchases reflect a preference for lifestyle and discretionary spending.

The added value of FNB’s virtual cards is that they come with a dynamic card verification value (CVV) security code which changes frequently. Customers can also temporarily block, cancel or replace their FNB or RMB Private Bank virtual cards via the FNB Banking App as soon as they suspect any kind of fraudulent activity.  

“In an environment with constantly evolving threats, it’s critical that we protect our customers and ensure that they’re safeguarded to always transact securely. Our Virtual Card is central to this promise,” continues Nsibande. 

“The rapid growth and adoption of our Virtual Card offering is encouraging, and it reassures us that we are on the right track as we continually endeavour to make the lives of our customers easier while innovating to ensure that their transactional environment remains safe and secure. We continue to prioritise providing a range of unique and inventive solutions centred on our customers’ needs, true value and help.” concludes Nsibande