Pulling out your credit card, a gesture about to disappear?

2024-10-19 04:00:00

Blue, gold or black, the bank card represents 61.1% of cashless payments (excluding cash), according to the 2023 report of the Observatory for the Security of Payment Means, compared to 55% in 2019. A plebiscite. However, the precious plastic rectangle leaves the wallet less and less often consumers.

“Covid has accelerated the dematerialisation of bank cards: we use them more and more to pay but without necessarily having them with us”summarizes Yves Tyrode, general director of digital and payments of the BPCE group.

Connected smartphones and watches are often used in payments. Mobile payment (Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, etc.) alone represents, 10.1% of proximity card payments in 2023compared to 1.2% in 2020. A use that should continue to grow because it is simple: once the bank card has been registered wallet (electronic wallet) of the smartphone, simply launch the application and bring the device close to the payment terminal to pay.

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Better yet, mobile payment is not affected by the 50 euro limit for contactless payments. “It’s hard to beat mobile payment in terms of customer experience, except perhaps the “smile to pay” offered by Alipay and WeChat Pay in China”observes Julien Maldonato, financial sector associate at Deloitte. These Chinese payment giants offer a facial recognition system which then allows you to associate your bank account with your face pay while looking at a camera in the store.

Free instant transfer

Banks are taking into account the increase in mobile payments. At BoursoBank, “one new customer in five doesn’t ask for a physical card, just a virtual one”confirms Xavier Prin, marketing director. On N26, a third of customers open an account. A biscuit, a suitcase or even soap bubbles: the German neobank also takes care of the aspect of virtual cards, which appears on the phone screen when the customer launches the payment application.

Another trend: instant transfers, made in less than ten seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is expected to gain momentum in the coming months, as banks are forced by European regulations to align the pricing of transfers. instant transfer with that of the classic transfer, no later than 9 January 2025. “This means that the operation will be free in all banks when it is carried out online, while more than half of the institutions charge for it for the moment”deciphers Adeline Moisiard, marketing director of Panorabanques.