Page 24 - Pay Magazine s2014

companies & people
Industry Views: Let’s Get Physical
Why do plastic cards matter in a mobile world?
The ubiquity of smartphones and the opportunities they present to disrupt existing payments models are undeniable. However, the plastic card and its simplicity remain at the core of the consumer pay- ments value proposition, and it’s not yet clear that
another model can deliver a better consumer experience at lower costs.
A range of new digital pay- ment products are competing to get traction, and some offer very effective solutions to niche segments. But we believe plastic still has an important role to play in the payments ecosystem. We are
proactively monitoring this space and believe that an innovative mobile payments value proposition that benefits all stakeholders can be a game changer
in terms of mass adoption. While the plastic card
is still the king, we should be prepared for a world without plastic.
—Raju Sitaula,
North America product head, Citi Prepaid Services
We work alongside some
of the leading financial services companies in the world, ranging from startups to those on the Fortune 500. With each relationship, there’s a broadly shared ideal of ubiquity in payment systems that effectively dictates contin- ued multiple forms of access devices, including physical cards. To us, it’s about deliver-
ing safe and accessible options to consumers what- ever the form factor.
—Gail S. Ball,
Aspiration: A physical card is a big deal when it’s your first modern payments instrument. It’s a symbol
of economic status.
Acceptance: For all the hype of contactless, POS is still the predominant way to pay in the U.S. and even more so
in Latin America and other emerging markets, where tapping is the rare exception. In addition, those accepting payment on their mobile devices, e.g., Square, still
require or prefer the payer to use a card. ATM access also will require cards for the foreseeable future.
Reliability: A physical card will never be thwarted by a dead battery or a bad connection. It will continue to be a practical accessory.
—Anabel Pérez,
CEO, NovoPayment
Most mobile payments rely upon an underlying card, and plastic is the most relia- ble, accessible payment method on the planet. Plastic cards operate across currencies, don’t run out of batteries or fail when wet. Major network cards are accepted at millions of loca- tions globally. The key to a world free of plastic cards
would require an overhaul of POS terminals, a process that won’t happen overnight, or even over a few years. Even as mobile use grows, which it certainly will, plastic cards will remain a reliable payment standard for the foreseeable future.
—Miles Paschini,
22
chief operating officer, The Bancorp
chief revenue officer, Wave Crest