The New Debit Cards: The Number One Means of Payment and a Promise for the Future
Payments is one of the fastest-growing business areas in banking. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly in Switzerland than when it comes to debit cards. The additional functions that come with the latest generation of cards promise great potential for the future.
Debit cards have overtaken cash as the most popular means of payment in Switzerland and have been the preferred means of payment since 2021. Annual transaction growth rates of over 10% have been a reality for many years, making debit card processing an important cornerstone for the overall business growth of SIX.
This upturn was made possible partly by the new debit cards from SIX. In 2018, SIX decided to add Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard to its portfolio, thus bringing debit cards as a means of payment forward into the digital age. Their predecessors, V PAY and Maestro, could only be used by consumers for cash withdrawals and shopping in stores. And this was usually possible only in Switzerland and Europe.
Paying with an Electronic Wallet
By contrast, Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard allow for mobile payments where the debit card is saved in an electronic wallet on the cardholder’s smartphone (such as Apple Pay or Samsung Pay). Consumers can use their debit cards in e-commerce, too. This means that online shopping, hotel bookings, and rental car reservations, for example, are now possible with debit cards as well.
In cooperation with SIX, the banks have already exchanged more than half of the over 8 million V PAY and Maestro debit cards that were in circulation. For cost reasons, the banks are not renewing their card portfolios all at once, but rather annually and in tranches. It normally takes around three years for the entire portfolio to be replaced. For the new debit cards, SIX has a market share of over 80%.
Staying Close to Customers with Debit Cards
SIX aims to further strengthen the position of debit cards as the number one means of payment, keeping them top of wallet. In this way, banks can continue to hold their own when competing for the digital customer interface for mobile payments and in e-commerce – and can do so globally. SIX can keep supporting targeted growth by way of additional transactions.
The Debit Card App
The future customer journey will be complex and multi-faceted. A wide range of physical and digital interactions with consumers will be crucial in the years to come. The debiX+ app (see box) from SIX, which celebrated its first anniversary and its 285,000th download in the year under review, will play a central role here.
debiX+, the App that Keeps Getting Better
In November 2022, a year after its launch, the debiX+ app had 285,000 users, who were customers of 66 different banks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It already contained more than a dozen features at that time. What started with 3D Secure – for approving online purchases – now also comprises transaction notifications, for example, and an overview of all the online services where the digital counterpart to the debit card is saved, including the option to block or delete it directly in the app.
debiX+ is modular, allowing SIX to develop and activate additional features over time. Every three months, there is an update to further improve the user experience. SIX also meets with the banks that offer the white-label app – each with their own look and feel – at three-month intervals to exchange ideas. The focus here is on their needs and the needs of the target group. There are practically no limits to the number and characteristics of new features.
Debit & Mobile Services: a Growing Ecosystem
Together with the banks, SIX is continuously expanding the Debit & Mobile Services ecosystem. Why not also put eBill services or other services from SIX in the app? Or provide customers with new startup services in debiX+ quickly and easily via bLink?