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volume 8 • fall 2015
Plastic cards defined mobility before cellular phones were invented. They allowed con- sumers to carry around their “lender” or “bank” in their pockets, no longer being limited to shopping only at merchants where they could open a tab or withdrawing cash from the bank during normal
banking hours in advance of making a purchase.
In the 60 years since plastic cards were introduced, consumers around the world have enjoyed the
simplicity of cards, and ubiquity with which they’re accepted. Plastic cards also are available to un- banked consumers, who receive cards funded with benefits payments.
While there’s no doubt that mobile applications are taking off as a future channel for payments, they are a way off from universal acceptance. Plastic will still rule as long as it remains the easiest and only form of electronic payment that can be used anywhere, anytime, by anyone.
—Kevin Phalen,
head of global card and comprehensive payables, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
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