France: payments sector expected to grow despite low card penetration rate

France`s cards market barely has grown since 2012, according to Consumer Payments Country Snapshot: France report issued by Verdict Financial, a market research firm. However, the emergence of new channels and new technologies is expected to improve the French payments sector in the long run.

Near Field Communication (NFC) and mobile commerce have a lot of potential in the market but realising this will be a slow process. Verdict Financial’s most recent consumer survey revealed that 44% of French consumers stated that they had no interest in obtaining a mobile wallet.

Banks and other card issuers attempt to promote contactless card technology, but even this more familiar new payment tool is failing to gain traction among French consumers, who remain unconvinced of its benefits or are concerned about its security.

Mobile payments are also highly underdeveloped, with more negative consumer attitudes than all other segments of the card payments market, and a general lack of product launches from the issuers.