The introduction of contactless card payments was made possible because of innovation and investment across card issuers, terminal providers and businesses. This didn’t happen overnight though – we needed a critical mass of cards issued with chips and terminals accepting tap-and-go for it to get momentum. I recall Commonwealth Bank running a small-scale trial in the Sutherland Shire, but it didn’t really seem to take off. Only once the supermarkets picked it up did it gain the momentum needed to effect a broad change in payment behaviour. This demonstrates that the benefits of innovation sometimes only become evident ... (full story)