NFC

The news may seem overdue, but this isn't a story of two Goliaths battling it out. It's a tale of one Goliath beating multiple Davids — slowly, methodically, and one at a time.

Part of the issue is that in the U.S., contactless cards didn't pave the way for mobile as they did in other regions. Without widespread acceptance of contactless cards, merchants were put in the position of being asked to upgrade their terminals for mobile without any promise that the investment would pay off.

Starbucks has established itself as a model for mobile payments among coffee drinkers, but Barclays is partnering with a U.K. coffee chain to take it a step further by bringing the coffee cup itself into play.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has committed to roll out contactless chip cards for all new and replacement payment cards, which will likely spark a mass movement, if the experience of other global markets is any guide.

In the U.S., most banks and retailers seemed to have given up on contactless cards with the 2011 demise of the much-publicized Chase Blink brand. But the payment format is making a strong comeback in 2018.

Despite the fervor over mobile wallets and banking, one day consumers may never need to open a dedicated bank or payment app.

Now that consumers have come to accept metal cards, issuers are looking to do more with the format.

As with many mobile apps and services, I think we underestimated the fragmentation issue. That includes consumers preferring different operating ecosystems, and also different versions of Android or iPhone hardware, according to Ankit Kumar, manager of digital payments and mobile financial services at Gemalto.

Contactless payments are a big success story in most countries around the world—including developing markets—but not in the U.S.

U.S. EMV coverage has gaping holes—including smaller financial institutions that haven’t fully converted to EMV and millions of merchant locations still not accepting chip cards.