Corporate Strategy in Consumer Finance

Debit issuing may be less profitable, but more popular among consumers

More debit cards were issued in 2013 than credit yet again. Interchange limits in some markets have made the function less profitable for issuers but have lowered the cost of acceptance for merchants.

MasterCard and American Express continue acquisitions

While many operators have sought to consolidate previous acquisitions, MasterCard and American Express have continued. Their acquisitions have been focused primarily on various aspects of mobile payment technology.

Mobile wallets come to market

Each of the leading operators launched or were involved in the pilot phase of a mobile wallet in 2012 and 2013. All of these rely on NFC technology to communicate with the contactless POS terminals.

Changing how consumers spend

The biggest challenge the operators have faced in mobile wallet adoption is providing consumers with enough incentives to sign up. Leveraging their merchant relationships, a few networks are making progress.

Time to transition to EMV in the US

The 2015 deadline for EMV compliance is quickly approaching in the US, but in 2013 smartcards only made up 4% of total cards in circulation. The networks driving the transition may incur greater costs in migrating the system.

Hostile regulatory environment

Throughout the developed world, the international operators have settled on interchange limits that have notably reduced the profitability of card payments. With a shrinking pool of revenue, the share taken by the networks is also likely to decrease over the forecast period.

Competition increasing

Domestic operating schemes are popping up all over the globe and increasing competition for the networks. Many with explicit government support can gain scale quickly with lower costs and mandatory acceptance.

What this report includes

• Top-level strategic analysis of how major consumer trends will influence global markets
• Consumer insight
• Impact across all relevant consumer markets
• Unique graphics and case studies
• Key market snapshots
• Accompanying presentation to synthesise main findings

Why buy this report

• Identify factors driving change now and in the future
• Understand motivation
• Forward-looking outlook
• Briefings and presentation should provoke lively discussion at senior level
• Take a step back from micro trends
• Get up to date estimates and comment