In 2014, payment cards were used for more than 47 billion transactions in the European Union, that is to say a level almost identical to the overall combined number of transactions involving credit transfers and direct debits, respectively the second and third most used payment instruments. In France, payment cards were used in more than 50% of all non-cash payments transactions, amounting to nearly 9.5 billion operations in 2014, compared to only 3 billion transactions in 2001. The specificity of card payments is that they occur for transactions of a relatively small amount € in average in France), making it the strongest alternative to cash for proximity payments. This situation is the result of years of efforts made by market stakeholders to build a secure, efficient and convenient payment instrument. The French community was at the forefront of such evolution with the early adoption in 1992 of chip for payment cards, which has been followed by the introduction and the subsequent widespread adoption of the EMV standard. This latter evolution has been the cornerstone of the uptake of payment cards by allowing fast and secure transactions through Europe. This predominance of payment cards may nonetheless be at stake nowadays, with the conjunction of three main trends that have a disruptive effect on the market: new solutions, new behaviors and players, new regulations. First, innovative payment solutions based on SEPA schemes are very likely to emerge.
One prime example of this possible groundswell is the preparation, under the impulse of the Euro Retail payments Board (ERPB), of a pan-European instant payments scheme by the European Payments Council (EPC), based on the existing SEPA Credit transfer scheme. This new scheme, which should be finalized by the end of 2016 and operational before the end of 2017, will serve the development of further innovative products, especially via smart devices, for proximity and mobile payments. This is a relevant example of how the harmonisation and standardization work done in the context of the so-called “SEPA 1.0.” for legacy payment instruments (direct debit and credit transfer) may serve as a basis for market players to develop new innovative real time and paperless payment solutions, what I would call “SEPA 2.0.”. Secondly, we observe the emergence of new payment behaviors and new market players, in relation with further technological innovations. This is mostly led by the rising prominence of e-commerce, which has fundamentally changed payment usages in the last few years. The  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  search for a payment instrument adapted to these evolutions has first led to a wider usage of payment cards, beyond proximity transactions. These Card-not-present payments over the internet now account in France for nearly 7.5% of all card based-transactions in volume, and for 11.6% of the overall value of these transactions.