Review from Smart Payment Association’s President Andreas Strobel

We’ve just witnessed a huge year in the life of the smart payment industry… But the real growth came from online sector – and from non-bank and alternative providers… The market is shifting and fragmenting…

Dear Colleagues,

We’ve just witnessed a huge year in the life of the smart payment industry.

Well over a billion smart payment cards where shipped last year. Contactless penetration was up by almost 25%. And cards got safer – as DDA security appeared on over half new cards. Get the full report here.

But the real growth came from online sector – and from non-bank and alternative providers.

The market is shifting and fragmenting, on the back of smart devices, improved connectivity and growing user convenience. And it all makes for a fascinating 2014 – a year in which security and standardization are going to be critical as online begins to mature.

The SPA was at the forefront of (and developed positions for) every important payment issue of 2013 – from cloud vs card security, through certification for mobile security to biometric futures and more.

It’ll be no different in 2014.

Our e-Commerce workgroup is focusing attention on online –looking at the issues and activity positioning the Secure Element at the center of eCommerce security.

And, in a reflection of the changing payments ecosystem, we have modified our Articles of Association to offer membership opportunities to a new breed of payments organizations. Find out more about joining us here, or meet us at one of the conferences and exhibitions we’ll be participating in this year. See our events list here.

As we move through 2014 we’ll continue to work within EPC- Cards Stakeholders Group (CSG), representing the Vendors Sector, and the EMVCo Technical Associate Program as Card Representative. And just as we did last year we’ll contribute to SEPA consultations, standards discussions and take positions on all the relevant issues – from PSD2 regulation to card not present fraud and beyond.

For more on these, and for a full roundup of the hot topics of 2013, read the article by SPA Technical Director, Lorenzo Gaston here.

We’ll begin to see many of Lorenzo’s top developments start to impact payment in 2014, just as we’ll see the central role of the secure element grow in importance as ways to pay, devices and providers all proliferate.

It’s going to be an exciting year, and we’ll keep you up-to-date.

But for now, we’d like to wish you all a healthy and successful 2014.

Yours Sincerely,
Andreas Strobel
President – SPA