The payments card market is changing shape, even changing purpose for banks, as the relentless consumer preference for debit cards shoves their credit card siblings to the sidelines.Michael Ebstein from MWE Consulting said the RBA payments data for March 2018 "further illustrate a credit card market in which spend is growing but balances continue to decline."Ebstein dramatised the shift:  "Fifteen years ago, debit accounted for 30 per cent of the value of purchases made with a payment card. That share has now lifted to 47 per cent and at the current rate, we will see debit move past the 50 per cent level around early 2021."Once a common product for banks fixated on "share of wallet", cautious or better informed consumers are getting rid of credit cards."Total account numbers shrank further, with the contraction occurring in charge and commercial accounts. Personal credit accounts increased by 36,000 whilst charge and commercial accounts reduced by 72,000," Ebstein said in his monthly analysis of the RBA numbers on payment card use, released yesterda In separate commentary, analysts at CommSec noted that "the number of credit card accounts have hit a two-year low. And the 1.1 per cent annual fall in credit card accounts is the biggest decline ever recorded."In contrast to credit cards, "the number of debit card accounts are at record highs and account numbers are lifting at a near four per cent annual rate," CommSec said. Plenty of banks may be finding the consumer sovereignty in the cards domain testing for their business models."Of note is the number of card issuers showing zero growth in balances over the last three and last twelve months (11 out of 33 issuers)," Ebstein wrote.Commonwealth Bank is the principal major bank name in this boat, with its credit card portfolio down A$6 billion over one year, a decline of almost five per cent. This trend persisted for CBA over six, three and one months.ANZ is a second major giving up credit card market share over recent months, APRA data shows.Simply put: "The ongoing growth in share of household debt attributed to banks has come to a halt," Ebstein said.CommSec echoed this view, writing that the substitution of debit card accounts is, "in part, due to Australians rejecting debt." The share of household debt supplied by banks has not even levelled out."In fact, there is an argument to say it's reversing," Ebstein said."Ten years ago, credit card balances represented a 5.4 per cent share of total bank lending. This is now down to 3.04 per cent in the March 2018 quarter with this being slightly below the 3.06 per cent recorded in the December 2017 quarter."