Australia: online payment methods by type 2022

As of 2022, almost half of all online purchases in Australia were paid for by card, according to a report by PPRO. In comparison, paying with cash or via bank transfer was far less popular among Australian online consumers; nine percent of purchases were paid for using bank transfers and just one percent with cash.

Digital payment trends

Visa and Mastercard were the most popular card schemes used for online transactions across Australia in 2022, with just shy of 50 percent of Australians using a Visa card. Online payment services are also gaining momentum, with PayPal taking the top spot as the most widely used online payment method by brand. More and more businesses in Australia are offering Buy Now, Pay Later services (BNPL) such as AfterPay, Zip, and Klarna, with some customers welcoming these services with open arms, while others approach them with more skepticism due to the risk of racking up debts. BNPL service usage is more common among younger Australians, with Baby Boomers using BNPL services the least. BNPL was most frequently used to purchase items such as clothing and accessories, electronics, or health and beauty products in 2021.

Australia’s e-commerce landscape

The value of e-commerce sales in Australia amounted to over 29 billion Australian dollars in 2022, with the market growing by approximately 19 percent. E-commerce represented a share of just under 10 percent of total retail sales across the country that same year, with Australia’s e-commerce revenue projected to reach over 64 billion U.S. dollars by 2027. Food and liquor remains one of the strongest e-commerce categories in Australia, with a 20 percent share of all online sales and over 13 billion Australian dollars spent on food and liquor in 2022. Over 96 percent of online grocery and liquor was purchased from domestic retailers as of March 2023, with international retailers accounting for a very small proportion of sales.