Magazines Archives - 2009 May

Cards & Payments Asia 2009: Shifting consumer attitudes impacting market direction
Story 3 - Review

THE card-payment industry is banking on debit and pre-paid cards to grow business in the near term as the financial crunch — and dismal global economy — pushes consumers to rethink their attitudes towards credit.

Because of their less risky nature, both card variants appeal to consumers who have become conservative and debtaverse under the circumstances, noted industry players at Cards & Payments Asia 2009.

The card show, organised by Terappinn Ltd, was staged at Suntec Singapore from April 21-25. It incorporated Prepaid Cards Asia 2009, which was held on April 23 and 24. Also running alongside were RFID World Asia 2009 and Retail Solutions World 2009.

Retail a key business for payment cards

Retailing is an important market to the card-payment business. Figures from Euromonitor International indicate that it accounts for 30% of card spending in Asia.

Unlike credit cards, which facilitate delayed payments on purchases, debit cards let users pay for purchases at the time of transaction without using hard cash while the pre-paid form carries a monetary value credited by the user for making future purchases.

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