A SEPA For Cards: Contribution To A Cashless Society?

Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, gave a speech at the EFMA Cards and Payments Conference in which she looked at the future of retail payments in Europe. Among her comments, she says "the experience in Norway is a good indication that cards can become a good replacement for cash as long as they become a more convenient payment instrument than cash." Both the text and presentation slides (PDF) from her speech are available online. Her slides include one very interesting graph showing the consumer payment preferences in France based upon the amount of the purchase.