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Debit card providers should focus on keeping consumer trust and encouraging consumer use of debit cards in the wake of the current credit crisis, a panel of debit-network executives said today at SourceMedia's ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in Chandler, Ariz. "In an economic crisis, trust is the first casualty," said Leland Englebardt, group head of debit-channel development for MasterCard Worldwide. The payments industry "is nothing more than consumer trust," he said. The panel, which also included executives from Visa Inc., First Data Corp., Co-op Network, Metavante Corp.'s NYCE Payments Network LLC and Discover Financial Services' Pulse electronic funds transfer network, agreed that debit activity likely will increase as the credit crisis worsens. "People are less interested in [risking] getting into credit trouble," said Steve Rathgaber, NYCE president and CEO. Even as uncertainties around credit and increased frugality lead consumers to use debit cards more, the debit card industry still faces risks. For example, in stressful economic times, consumers are more tempted to commit fraud, said James Hanisch, executive vice president of Co-op Network, which provides services to credit unions. An additional risk, regulation, also is likely in the wake of the credit crisis, though Rathgaber said it is impossible to predict what form it would take. SourceMedia publishes CardLine.
