I was watching a presentation by Jan Chipchase that was given at TED. This talk was about how we interact with technology, specifically what happens when people share cells phones, an object that is actually designed for personal use. In describing how kiosks are popping up on the streets of Africa with little more than a mobile phone and a sign advertising call rates, he outlines an ingenious method of money transfer.
Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve made available a summary of the 2007 Federal Reserve Payments Study. I have used these results, as well as previous payments studies to update the Payments Watch payments model. Preliminary results from this model are predicting that (for the United States) debit card use may surpass checks paid as early as this year, and that ACH and credit card use may both surpass checks paid by 2009. Longer term, at current trends, the model is predicting that checks as we know it may cease to exist before 2020.
Payments are big business. Total industry revenues are over $200 Billion, almost double the revenues of the entire airline industry. Payments Watch provides insight and analysis on payments industry news from around the world.
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