The bank card still represents 61.1% of non-cash transactions according to the Payment Means Security Observatory. However, his reign could well be coming to an end.
The precious rectangle of plastic (or metal) is coming out of wallets less and less, giving way to a dematerialized version nestled in our smartphones. “Covid has accelerated the dematerialization of the bank card: we use it more and more to pay but without necessarily having it on us”explain in the world Yves Tyrode, general manager digital and payments of the BPCE group.
This development is reflected in telling figures: mobile payment (Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, etc.) now represents 10.1% of proximity card payments in 2023, compared to barely 1.2% in 2020. A dazzling progression which demonstrates of a profound change in our consumption habits.
The smartphone, the new king of payment
The appeal of mobile payment is firstly explained by its great ease of use. Once the card is registered in the wallet from the smartphone, it only takes a few seconds to pay for your purchases. No more need to take out your card, enter your PIN code, and above all, no more limit of 50 euros as for traditional contactless payment. The neobanks have understood this well: at BoursoBank, one new customer in five uses a virtual card, while at N26, this proportion reaches a third of new customers.
The innovation doesn’t stop there. In China, payment giants Alipay and WeChat Pay are already experimenting with “smile to pay”a facial recognition system that allows you to pay simply by smiling at a camera. A sort of FaceID, with an added smile.
Instant transfer is also emerging as an increasingly interesting alternative. Thanks to European regulations, it will become free in all banks by January 9, 2025 and will allow money transfers in less than ten seconds, 24 hours a day. Payment solutions between individuals are also multiplying, with applications like Lydia, Lyf, PayPal, and soon Wero, a European e-wallet allowing cross-border transactions.
The disappearance of the physical bank card may not be imminent, but its transformation is already well underway. Traditional banks and fintechs are competing to innovate to offer ever more practical and secure payment solutions. In this context, the physical card could well become a collector’s itemlike the good old checkbook, almost missing.
- The physical bank card is used less and less in favor of mobile payment
- A growing number of neobank customers are opting for exclusively virtual cards
- Free instant transfer and peer-to-peer payment solutions are emerging as other interesting alternatives