Boston, March 2, 2021 –While one does not have to search far for a report crediting (or blaming) the COVID-19 pandemic for shifting consumer payment behaviors, there were already indications that the shift to digital-first features and contactless payments was inevitable. Card payments are changing, and technology has opened doors to new ways of using debit, credit, and prepaid cards for consumers.

This Impact Report highlights the differences between legacy card programs and digital-first card programs and provides insights to help issuers develop a business case and plan to design and update their card program. This report is based on June and July 2020 interviews with 22 bank and credit union card executives in the U.S., and interviews with U.S. vendors, card processors, and core system providers, along with desk research and the author’s experience managing card programs at financial institutions in the U.S.

This 27-page Impact Report contains six figures and 11 tables. Clients of Aite Group’s Retail Banking & Payments service can download this report, the corresponding charts, and the Executive Impact Deck.

This report mentions Apple, Backbase, CPI Card Group, FIS, Fiserv, Fitbit, Garmin, Giesecke & Devrient, Google, i2c, Idemia, Marqeta, Mastercard, Ondot, Q2, Samsung, and Thales Gemalto.