A total of 2.3 billion payment chip cards were shipped globally in 2017, said the Smart Payment Association (SPA), the trade body of the smart payments industry, in its annual review of the smart payments market.

 Following adjustments to accommodate shipment data provided by new members, the SPA calculates this represents a year-on-year growth of almost 4 per cent on 2017 figures.

In line with the growing maturity in most global markets, shipment volumes in China and the US continue to normalize following the significant EMV roll-out programs of recent years.

Once again, a sustained growth in card shipments was observed in India, where the transition to EMV is currently underway. Demand across the South Asia region also continued to surge ahead, most notably in Indonesia where year-on-year shipment volumes more than doubled.

The 2017 global shipment figures also highlight the escalating popularity of ‘tap and go’ transactions, with contactless payment cards accounting for more than 50 per cent of shipments in most regions, and over 70 per cent in a growing number of territories.

“The continued acceleration of contactless card shipments is being fuelled by a strong consumer appetite for convenient ways to conduct small transactions across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific, supported by the wider deployment of contactless POS terminals and by shemes’ mandates,” said Julien Drouet, president, SPA.

As part of its extensive market monitoring activities, the SPA has established two Advisory Councils to enable non-SPA members to access the most up-to-date marketplace data available. The SPA Monitoring Advisory Council is open to EMV technology vendors supplying cards and/or modules, while the SPA Forecasting Advisory Council is open to organizations operating in the wider payment ecosystem. – TradeArabia News Service