Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
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10 S C T / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 Consumers are abandoning cash at an increasing rate By Ben Johnson Paper vs. plastic B y year-end, credit- and debit-card payments will have surpassed cash payments globally for the first time, according to Euromonitor International. And the trend looks set to accelerate. Consumer-card and mobile-commerce payments, now totaling some $23.1 trillion, are anticipated to grow by 6.6 percent and 23 percent, respectively, compounded annually between now and 2021. Global cash payments, meanwhile, are projected to grow by a comparatively meager 1.3 percent. "This stagnant growth of cash payments signals a shift from an increase of cash supply to a decrease and is a major victory for card and electronic payments," said Kendrick Sands, a senior consumer finance analyst at Euromonitor International. Mobile commerce is a winner in this trend, having risen by 53 percent from 2015 to 2016. Debit-card payments enjoyed the largest growth rate between 2009 and 2012 — outdistancing prepaid cards, credit cards, and ACH and check payments, according to the Federal Reserve. Debit cards experienced the strongest year-on-year growth from 2015 to 2016 (by cards in circulation), at 8.1 percent, and credit cards grew by 5.3 percent, according to Euromonitor International. As more consumers gain access to financial products and services, debit cards in circulation are expected to grow by 7.4 percent globally between now and 2021. A Javelin Strategy & Research study of retail point-of-sale market share by payment type finds that cash has represented the smaller share of total payments at all retailers for years. The data show that cash and checks comprise 27 percent of all retail T H E C O M M O N A R E A N E W S F R O M A LL C O R N E R S O F T H E I N D U S T R Y ANOTHER BIG VEGAS RE TAIL BE T 12 ORGANIZED RE TAIL CRIME TARGE TS LOS ANGELES 14 CLIMATE RIBBON KEEPS MIAMI MALL COOL 16 REITS GE T PROACTIVE ABOUT LE ASING 18