Demand for FinTech grows

Data published by the Smart Payment Association (SPA) showed that 56% of smart cards shipped in 2015 featured contactless technology, an increase of 24% on the previous year.

Andreas Strobel, President of the SPA said: “These figures demonstrate how EMV is now a truly global, established, secure and interoperable infrastructure.

“Consumer demand for faster and more convenient ways to pay proved the driving force behind a further steep growth in contactless shipments in Europe and Asia.”

The report claimed that 53% of all cards shipped in Europe were contactless, whilst 74% of those in the Asia Pacific region featured the technology.

Card safety also increased in 2015, with the proportion of EMV featuring Dynamic Data Authentication rising from 30% to 76%.

Over two billion smart payment cards were shipped globally last year, an increase of 34% from the previous year.

“SPA reported the first billion of smart payment card shipments in 2011 and it took the industry only four years to deliver the second billion,” Andreas added.

The report credited the global rise in part to growing demand for smart payment cards in the United States.

Last year, 570 million EMV cards were shipped to the US, doubling 2014 figures.

Shipments to China also rose by 27%.