Editor's Blog

The new Payment Systems Regulator has set up a Strategy Forum, aimed at suggesting payment system innovation in the non-competitive arena. An obvious innovation which has been consistently blocked is the creation of a bank account numbering system which allows customers to keep the same account number, as and when they choose to move their account from one bank to another. The term " ....

Last week saw yet more hype from those trying to tell us - the British Public - that Contactless Cards were soon going to replace cash as the preferred means of payment for small retail purchases. This is, of course,total nonsense. In July 2015, 3% more cash was dispensed from UK ATMs than in July 2014. This year-on-year growth has been achieved against a backdrop of over £180 Billion in cas....

Greece is in a mess. With a population of around 11 Million and a national debt of roughly 320 Billion Euros, every Greek (man, woman & child) would have to give their exchequer 30,000 Euros to pay back the country's creditors. Now the UK's national debt per person is broadly similar to that of Greece. The difference is that the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person is about twice that....

So often, those who are seemingly well on the road to winning, throw it all away by over-stretching in an attempt to cross the line early. Mostly, the result is that they seize defeat from the jaws of victory and NEVER end up breaking the tape. Take Iceland's anti-cash lobby. For a long time, the noises emanating from Iceland were telling the world " Clever Iceland doesn't need cash. Hardly a....

Kevin Jenkins runs the Visa Card Scheme in the UK.  Kevin is a very honest man. He honestly wants Visa to become bigger and bigger each year. For Visa to grow, use of cash must decline. Therefore Kevin has predicted that cards will account for 95% of all transactions in the UK within 10 years, up from a current more healthy 50%. Since over 90% of all cards in the UK carry the Visa brand....