Country Surveys

UAE faces credit default challenges

Sun, Feb, 28 2010

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was established in 1971 and is composed of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Qiwain, Ras Al-Khaima and Fujeirah. The area has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living.

Dutch remain reluctant on EMV adoption

Wed, Feb, 10 2010

The Netherlands is one of the most resilient European economies and has a flourishing financial market, as well as healthy payment card usage – although the slow speed at which it is migrating to EMV has cost it as it employs more and more of its resources to combat fraud.

Greece embraces cards

Sun, Jan, 31 2010

Greece remains a heavily cash-dependent payments market. Despite the massive investment that took place in preparation for the 2004 Athens Olympics, the country still lacks a lot of the co-operation between institutions and updating of payment infrastructure needed in order to compete with some of the more mature western markets.

The Middle East opens up for prepaid

Tue, Jan, 12 2010

A high level of expatriate workers, millions of unbanked inhabitants and an emerging card usage culture in the Middle East region would seemingly make it a natural habitat for prepaid solutions. But, as Victoria Conroy reports, there are some cultural and technical hurdles to overcome before prepaid takes off

Stellar card growth in Saudi Arabia

Tue, Jan, 12 2010

Intensive investment and modernisation in all aspects of its society has made Saudi Arabia a fertile growth spot for cards and electronic payments. Although debit dominates, credit cards are also proving increasingly popular, and banks in the kingdom are rolling out innovative propositions.

Banks shun the unbanked millions

Tue, Dec, 22 2009

Banking the unbanked, a problem generally viewed as a one faced by developing countries, is also a huge challenge for the US, reveal two in-depth studies undertaken by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Japan takes the lead in technology

Wed, Dec, 9 2009

Japan is an enigma in the card world. It has a high level of card penetration yet at the same time is still a predominantly cash-based society. Despite fairly infrequent usage of cards by consumers, most have around five or six different credit cards in their wallet. As well as the large

France sees strong credit growth

Wed, Nov, 11 2009

Despite French banks being particularly careful when it comes to lending and profits being hit hard, the past couple of years have seen credit cards experience a rise in popularity and an increasingly sophisticated range of card products are now making their debuts in the market, as John Hill reports.

Mixed results for Australian card reforms

Fri, Oct, 23 2009

Regulatory scrutiny in Australia has been closely watched by payment players around the world, and while some in the industry argue about how effective recent reforms have been, Australian consumers continue to move away from cash to electronic payments in all forms. John Hill reports.

Cash still king in Germany

Mon, Oct, 12 2009

German consumers are notorious for their love of cash which has meant that payment card usage is relatively low. But despite a tumultuous time for Germany’s financial industry recently, the country’s banks are set on forging ahead with the development of a new pan-European debit scheme. John Hill reports.