Non‐cash payment volumes continued to grow in 2008 after an increase of 8.6% globally in 2007 to 250 billion transactions, according to the World Payments Report 2009, released today from Capgemini, RBS and Efma. The use of cards continues to be the single strongest driver for this growth with Global credit and debit card transactions growing 14.5% in 2007 and 11.2% in 2008.
Asia is a region that’s using new payment technology to increase revenue. Best practices and a range of initiatives out of Asia have demonstrated that payments innovation is a potential source of revenue, particularly with non banks. The Asian market offers insights on the success factors for developing different payment tools, and the opportunities for banks to generate new revenues from emerging payment instruments.
“Emerging payment methods like m‐payments, contactless payments, e‐payments and biometric authentication can help banks to attract and retain new clients, reduce the use of cash, create new offers, reach unbanked markets and decrease operational costs,” said Bertrand Lavayssière of Capgemini.
The global payments market, however, is dominated by the U.S. and Europe, which together account for 61% of transactions, with developing economies continuing to grow their share of global transactions every year.
Amidst weak economic conditions and a challenging time for the banking industry, Global Transaction Services (GTS) divisions were cited as a stable and profitable source of revenue for financial institutions. The report finds that while some GTS divisions suffered from deteriorating market conditions and reduced business volumes in the first quarter of 2009, GTS still accounts for 5‐20%of group revenues,
and remains an important source of revenue for banks, with a cost/income ratio as low as 50%. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/nfcnews-4.gif)
