Bitcoin Forum

Have you ever wondered what the future of credit/debit cards will be once CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) go public? People will no longer need to use a plastic card to pay for goods and/or services, as everything will be done through a mobile (or desktop) app. This means people will directly interact with the central bank for deposits and/or withdrawals. No need for middlemen like Visa or Mastercard. At least, that's what I think it will happen.

Do you think credit/debit cards will still be a thing after the launch of CBDCs? If not, why? Will payment processors like PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard survive? Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. :)

yep. thats kinda the point
also its the move to the cashless society as paper/metal coin currency has costs for banks too

however, CBDC is not a process of the fed/central bank processing everything
imagine it like a multisig that a central bank partners with several commercial services and they multisg units of currency into existence managed by mainly the central bank but agreed by the commercial banks(payment services)

these commercial payment services have outputs(fund destinations) where they get certain amount of that signed in input value
they then use those UTXO's as their references to then create their own signed transactions with each other as a child transaction
and then below that use grandchild transactions for their bank branches and then  and then microtransactions of inbound balance for customers of branch.

which get updated at customer payments to change who has inbound value, where balances of the current state of the transaction are updated when payments are routed

the central banks wont do all the KYC/monitoring. they delegate it to the commercial banks(like they do now in normal fiat)
but in general yes its to remove the need of visa/mastercard which costs commercial banks money, rather than they making money from transaction fees, which banks want to start getting

Debit cards might eventually become obsolete, but credit cards cannot be replaced by the central bank unless the central bank itself starts issuing retail loans, which doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. However, I wouldn't consider it entirely impossible; it would just require a tremendous financial crisis where all retail banks go bankrupt, allowing the central bank to seize the opportunity.

Asking about the survival of debit cards differs greatly from asking about the survival of these companies. These companies will likely survive, because they're not directly linked to retail banks, which are the entities that might ultimately fall in terms of economic prosperity, or even cease to exist at some point.

I don't think that Credit/Debit cards will become obsolete because of the introduction of CBDCs. People are already using phones and computers for banking transactions without intermediaries and it has not stopped the banks from issuing ATM cards. ATM cards have some special functions that will still make them relevant. In my country, there has been a recent increase in ATM use because POS are now popularly used for banking services.  

ATM cards will be helpful when you don't have access to phones or computers. Sometimes there might not be a power supply to charge phones, ATM cards will be the only option to access funds. Operating an ATM might be simpler than using online transactions, so many people still favour ATM cards, especially in developing nations.

The introduction of CBDCs might gradually start reducing the use of ATMs because people might start migrating to CBDCs to cut transaction costs but it will take some time before it will start affecting them adversely. Many countries have not even adopted the CBDCs policy so there will still be a large market for these intermediaries for a long time.

I quite doubt it.

It's true if CBDC exist, people should able to transact through cell phones without need to use plastic card.

But, considering there are many cases where someone claimed their money disappeared due to malware or getting hacked, so I don't think people will feel safe when their phones are connected to most of their money.

Using plastic card will decrease the chance to get hacked.

when phones have passcodes and app logins.. but 'tap and pay' debit cards can be tapped by someone simply brushing passed you. cards are more vulnerable
there are also cases of ATM card cloning devices that fit to ATM's in a hidden way which also make cards vulnerable
atm cards can also be stolen via pickpickets

That's really bad news if you ask me. Definitely a step towards discontinuation of cash money and a new level of financial slavery. Directly the opposite of what Bitcoin is trying to achieve.

Already the use of credit/debit cards have already reduced since mobile apps banking platforms have been put in place such that everyone can use their mobile phones to makes purchases of goods and other items but there are still payments that requires this credit/debit cards to authenticate payments however this medium of payments have a credit and debit limit which can be frustrating when you want to make large payments or withdrawal that is why Bitcoin will be the end of this debit/credit card because it has not credit limit or withdrawal limit.

I do not see much difference that CBDCs will do to credit/debit cards because in the end, it will simply boil down to individual preference. Many people feel more comfortable remembering their pins and having their OTC sent to emails or mobile text rather than memorizing private keys or storing/carrying them about in their phones and tablets. My country once launched a digital currency but it died a natural death for reasons I can not completely adduce. People did not just see the need to use the stablecoin pegged to our currency even though government spent huge funds in its marketing. So, like I said before, worldwide adoption of CBDCs will not bring an end to credit/debit cards.

Many people have already stopped using plastic/physical cards in favor of virtual ones... they even prefer to pay with smart watches.

I would call this proto-CBDC.

Personally, I prefer plastic cards because they require no electricity/internet from me (unlike smartphones).

What if my phone battery runs out? What if I'm stuck to GPRS? Plastic solves these problems.

Regarding MasterCard and Visa, I think they will evolve towards a new business model (crypto -> CBDC bridge). They're aware of the potential of the emerging crypto market.

MasterCard is affiliated with DCG, so they're not going away.

Hell, these days we even see telcos offering money transmission services (i.e. Cosmote/Payzy).

What you will consider as of now is that even the CBDC in consideration is not yet established because the people are not using it as they have so much developed interest with the use of cryptocurrency, master card, visa and many other gateway payment system should not worry as long as fiat currency still remains relevant, they will always have to contend with he use of CBDC over their services except for crypto adoption as a mainstream for making payments.

Unlike the tussle for dominance between fiat and cryptocurrency, credit/debit cards also have to tussle for dominance when CBDC comes into the mix and is vying for more attention from the users.
The CBDC initiative would work well with cryptocurrencies and P2p transactions would become more efficient although it won't be as private and decentralized as the kind of services crypto exchanges do offer, and there might be no much need for credit/debit cards, if cryptocurrencies get accepted or regulated as is the cases for many countries and regions currently using it.

Still, it's an issue of having a means of being connected to the internet and with steady access to the internet that would determine if the idea of CBDC would be as efficient in serving all customers who use credit/debit cards or not.

I doubt credit card will cease to exists unless the government demonetized their fiat and only made their CBDC as legal tender then the user will be left with no other option than using CBDC.

Debit cards are rarely used for big purchases while credit cards are by every rich person because they know they get a lot of rewards like cashback, discounts, tickets, coupons, etc.

Debit & Credit Cards are already getting phased out even before any potential CBDC introduction. Apple Pay & similar are already in use, I actually find them useful & often leave my physical wallet at home & use my phone to make payments. I hope we don’t get CBDCs but for reasons other than Debit & Credit Cards getting discontinued.

I don't consider CBDCs a threat to Bitcoin, and I don't think CBDCs are evil per se, but I'm simply sceptical about this whole idea. The idea of CBDCs has been around for years, and it seemed at some point like it was going to get mainstream. But, actually, only a handful of countries are seriously exploring them and have taken any steps to at least conduct pilot testing of them. So, honestly, I don't think they're kicking it off, and I'm sure Visa/Mastercard have a huge lobby to make sure they aren't left out of the game.
For now, I believe that debit and credit cards will remain relevant and widespread simply because CBDCs won't become a big thing.

I don't believe there won't be many changes in the way it works, debit/credit cards won't exist, but as you say there will be an application that will do everything the same as the card but much faster and better. I think that the change that is coming is related to stricter monitoring, so goodbye to any kind of privacy.

Debit and credit cards will always exist in some form, people will never stop depending on some services and their loans/credits. It seems to me that many large companies, including the ones you listed, have more users who use the mobile application than the card itself anyway. Modern times, but I still like to feel cash in my pocket, or Bitcoins in my wallet...

as far as i understand, cbdc is just digital money that is issued and its circulation is controlled by the central bank and its function is the same as paper money. so functionally, cbdc and ordinary money are the same, only the form is different. and discussing digital payments, isn't the majority of people using them now? it's just that all these payments still use the conventional system, not yet using cbdc. it is possible that when cbdc is launched this conventional system will be replaced. and that is also not a problem for debit cards or credit cards, because these are banking products, and even though most people use payments via smartphone, there is still a lot of use of debit/credit cards, because they are more compact and do not require internet on the user's side.

and discussing whether visa or mastercard will be threatened, it will not be threatened, because they are just third parties who cover user payments, and that makes it easier for people who want to make transactions in many countries globally which are covered by this service. because not all countries in the world have a cbdc system that works together.

cashless society?
About 30% of the population in the 1st World lives with cash and only cash.
In the 3rd world it is about 60 to 80%

The CBDC has about 30 to 60% of acceptance depending on what state we are talking about.
Venezuela: I estimate about 15% would take it. 

debit/credit cards will slowly fizzle out. replaced by apps

but most people think the only option is never die or disappear the day CBDC is released
the real truth is people adapt OVER TIME

for instance governments can introduce charges for banks interacting with visa/mastercard which visa/mastercard then pass onto the customer in the form of charges.. and then banks offer low/no fee for the CBDC spending
and after time just let people choose the cheapest option naturally OVER TIME

banks are not forced by visa/mastercard to interact with visa/mastercard, so banks could once they have their own payment system for people. can start dis-engaging with visa/mastercard, starting with charging visa/mastercard to get access to bank customer details to then offer cards

Things you are talking about already exist, you can pay for goods and services with your mobile banking app if the seller has a QR code set for it, or you can make direct transactions to their account they will provide right at the time of payment, you can use a fingerprint-enabled ATM to withdraw cash without having a card these days, all you need is your mobile phone where you will receive an OTP that you will enter in the system.

The reason why cards exist and are widely used even when there are other ways and options to get things done is the delays and timings. When you do something without a card, it would consume more time, with a card, it takes less time and you will be free maybe in a minute instead of 5 minutes when not using a card.

There will come a time when debit cards will be useless, and even money will no longer be useful to get or buy goods. And I read this in the Bible, which I believe is 100% truth.
And we are indeed in the end times.

But no one really knows when it will happen; in fact, I pray that I don't catch these times because it is worrying for my personal feelings. Because this time is approaching the end of the
world or of humanity. And it is really scary in my opinion.

I think so, there will still be cards on that time when CBDCs becomes a hot thing. So, we've got our phones and apps and wallets where the CBDCs are going to be transferred but at the same time, there goes the debit cards that are going to be used as an alternative if ever the app doesn't work well. It typically sets that we've got an alternate use and this is being done by digital wallets and the banks as well so, I don't think that the credit/debit cards will be eliminated just because of this. They'll still exist and they'll be used because not everyone will be fond of these CBDCs.

Credit and Debit card were a transitional step for cashless transactions. In some places it was nearly skipped as people moved to online and mobile banking. The place where credit/debit cards still are in widely use are international travels. Countries are yet to figure out internationally accepted way of transacting on every of countries. CBDCs could solve that. They could just convert the currency in real time to let users pay everywhere with minimal fees. Another issue with cards, online services of bank are the fees and service charge associated with it. Some people are paying a huge fee just to make it easier to spend their own money. CBDCs could be another transitional step before the whole world accepts crypto as payments.

And the people who do not use smart phones?
2021 its about 72% in the US

https://www.statista.com/statistics/201183/forecast-of-smartphone-penetration-in-the-us/
28% duck away and die.

1.5 billion Creditcard incl. debit cards are there in the US in 2021
https://www.statista.com/statistics/245385/number-of-credit-cards-by-credit-card-type-in-the-united-states/
Most likely a few have 3 or 10 Credit/debitcards

The way people forget about non smartphone user is pretty similar to the Venezuelan government.

If I tell you that bearer checks still exist, from the last century, and they resist dying. It is a society that in its entirety cannot be isolated from analog world,  that we are still in that technological transition, the technological benefits that we know of this new millennium are barely being assimilated, we still `'hodl' things from the 20th century, and in fact from hundreds of years. Then, the "Plastico" or the CC, DC have years left.

It’s not just the physical thing that credit or debit card offers if you really think about it. There are a lot of other benefits that they offer that CBDCs do not however I am confident to say that it will only be a matter of time before CBDCs also start offering what those credit or debit card offers.

There should be a digital credit/debit card, I feel that that would be revolutionized by one of those banks.

I think credit/debit cards and payment processors are unlikely to disappear entirely. They will adapt and integrate with new technologies to continue serving their customer base.

It's a wait-and-see situation. The exact impact of CBDCs depends on how they are implemented and regulated. But it's likely a future with both CBDC apps and credit/debit cards, each catering to different needs.

yeah but phones can get you killed.

need a finger print.
need face recognition

don’t need you to be alive for that.


hell I have a eight digit code for my phone
my phone has very little financial wealth that it can access.

all for opsec.

At least three people were drugged so that the cell could be opened by face recognition.  They died.
Fact happened in NYC.
may have been 2 deaths not 3 see below.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nyc-robbery-crews-eyed-in-more-than-40-manhattan-druggings-and-people-are-dying-officials/4193190/

A couple of days ago I read an article about Visa saying that 90% of cryptocurrency transactions are non-organic and that the Visa card is still the most popular option, well that will change soon when banks issue their own central digital currency (CBDC).

Of course, I do not think that debit cards will end forever, but their use will be limited. Do not forget also that most of these cards have recently moved to allow payment in cryptocurrency, and therefore the need to use them still exists to some extent.

I can assume that several decades ago, there were people, who thought that plastic cards are the future and cash will become obsolete.
Well, that didn't happen. Maybe the adoption of CBDCs will lead to the same thing. Paper money, plastic cards and CBDCs will exist at the same time and the people will use them without any problem. I think that CBDCs will be used mostly between the central banks and commercial banks, before they get imposed as a means of payment to the entire population.
Your question applies to companies like Paypal as well. The people have plastic cards, why do they keep using Paypal? I guess that Paypal gives them another level of security and convenience for their online purchases.

you wanna talk about whataboutisms

fine lets talk about a plastic card in your back pocket... go explain the security risks
(hint: pick pockets, skimmers, cloners)
(hint: pick-pocketting is easier then hostage taking)

as for the "whatabout internet/battery issues of phones)

simple answer people top up a 'tap and pay' account of under $200 and use a rfid chip, which has a code
this code is to authorise small amounts without the need of the internet/battery of the user
they can even have it as a fob/keyring they just tap onto a device in a retail store if their phone is out of communication
much like tapping a card or them security door fobs

too many people use the what if i cant get on the internet to pay for my stuff when im physically in a store.. the answer is you dont need the internet when physically in the store. as thats what the store has when you approach the counter. you use their PoS system
as for what to do when off line buying stuff online.. well same as now if you cant get online you wont buy anything online

common sense stuff

Very interesting to discuss of credit/debit cards post CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) launch. Through CBDC, individuals can conduct transactions directly via mobile or desktop applications, obviating the need for plastic cards. Such a paradigm shift could alter our relationship with money and banking.

Yet it seems that entities facilitating payments like PayPal, Visa and Mastercard might changed in response. They can pivot towards new technologies, tailor their services to complement CBDC integration or introduce value-added functionalities unachievable through direct CBDC transactions. Their emphasis could also be on security and user protection, an added advantage for customers.

To sum up: even though CBDCs might lessen the dependence on tangible cards, credit and debit cards could still sustain their popularity for ease, security, and reward-based motives. This implies that in spite of the modifications that CBDCs might bring to the realm of payments, credit and debit cards, as well as major payment processors, are expected to endure but would evolve by adjusting and providing more supplementary services related to them.

First, the presence of CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) can be said to be one of the efforts in the Financial Inclusion system through mobile or desktop applications to make it easier and it also looks to have a fairly good level of security, whether it is used or not, it all depends on Consumer Trust and Habits.

Whether they will continue to survive, of course, an accurate answer does not yet exist, it's just that for credit cards, I believe that over time it will disappear, its use will continue to decrease because too many promos from other providers take our phone contact numbers and quite a lot of additional costs if we use it indeed for value-added services, of course there are also.

Maybe they (physical payment methods) are going to extinct, as they will get replaced by Micro-Chips being installed inside or under the human's skin. Either way, both of them seems to be scary, so let's just hope they won't occur. I believe that we people are still contented already on what we have now in terms of payment methods and there is no need for the experts to level it up, as it may only do more harm than good.

I still don't think that they will be the caused for the the world to end but it is when the Artificial Intelligence (AI / robots) take over because they can wipe out the entire human race using their special weapons just like on what we see on the movies.

Today, people use virtual cards that they add to mobile wallets and pay via NFC on POS devices - and I don't see why the CBDC would change anything much when it comes to digital payments. In addition, when it comes to the EU, it was said that the maximum amount that a person will be able to have in such a digital wallet will only be EUR 300.

Regardless of what happens, I don't think that big companies will just give up - and neither will central banks just take over their business. There is probably some kind of compromise that will be made to satisfy both parties.

I argue that although the development of new financial technologies such as CBCD may disrupt traditional banking models such as credit or debit cards, I think it is unlikely that these technologies will completely replace the role of banks in financial transactions.
And people are used to his habits. Even though in the future most payments or transactions can be made via mobile or desktop devices, cash, credit or debit cards are still here and they will all go hand in hand. And it seems like payments using mobile devices have been around for a long time, but that hasn't eliminated credit cards or other plastic cards.

It's not 72% it's 90%, they statistics graphs include all population, I doubt 2yo kids would need a phone.
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/?tabItem=5b319c90-7363-4881-8e6f-f98925683a2f
and the ones making the number smaller are in the 65+ category, let's not forget people that are il, have a handicap, or are in prison.


That's not how CBDC currencies will work.
You will not have an account at the Central Bank you will still have a commercial bank account, the central bank will not care about the personal deposits, they will just oversee the issuance of those to the banks. You will still have a bank account, you will still have a credit line, and you will still be able to do the exact same thing as before, the only thing that changes is the settlement process which most of us were anyhow unaware of.
Besides, how would CBDC even replace credit lines?

It's likely credit card companies will change their business model to survive. Plastic cards will be eliminated, but that doesn't mean they can't issue virtual cards. I'm yet to see how that will work out once CBDCs become public. Maybe they will be the ones offering CBDC services to people instead of the central bank itself? Only time will tell.

With the world moving away from the physical realm, we should expect plastic cards and paper money to become a thing of the past. Everything will be "tokenized" in the future. The question is: Are we prepared for such a drastic change? :)

Obviously as though the cards might as well be taken gradually out of existence, the gateways by which it operates might not. As it is, the banks can’t run all them services and still needs this gateways such as quickteller to process these transactions and it would still very much be in use even should the CBDC full materialize and becomes the obtainable in the main stream.

Meanwhile, you don’t really get to operate with the central banks directly, you still will deal with your commmercial banks somehow as, the central banks can’t really do without these units to its activities in position.

With the presence of CBDC, it will not immediately have a significant impact on the use of debit/credit cards, since people will adapt to using this digital currency through their banking/digital wallet applications. It will probably take some time before consumers will adjust to the use of CBDC in their applications, and it is possible that people are still used to their physical debit/credit cards, because they are much more compact to carry and consumers do not need to open their phones just for transactions . But as time goes by people will get used to the app and it will reduce the use of physical cards.

Yes, I use it quite often. Most of our phones have this chip type of thing, I do not know the name to be fair and I can't talk about what it is, but basically they provide you to machine, and you just use your mobile phone to "beep" it :D.

I really don't know how to explain it further because it is a technical thing that I do not really know how any of it works, but I show get my phone closer to their machine and it's paid, that is the system right now. I like it, and I think this could very well open the world for crypto adoption too. We could have crypto companies who have deals with visa/mastercard, that way you keep bitcoin in your account, but you can pay with fiat easily, and this would mean that bitcoin would be accepted everywhere.

Well said! if we assess it, it seems that it is impossible or it will take a long time for them to get rid of bank cards because of the new mode of transactions that they will release, besides not all people today have an internet connection when they go out, so sometimes the online/QR scanning cannot be used. payments. There are banks today that can withdraw even without a card using the cardless method, but it's rare that people use it because it's more convenient to have cards in our hands that we can tap or swipe all the time when needed.

The origination of this CBDC has already reduced the total usage of plastic cards.The traditional banking systems are the ones that promotes and distributes physical cards and they are committed to issuing the cards to customers so long as their banking systems continues to operate in Progress.
Card use might continue to fall,irrespective of the fact that some people are still comfortable with using it.But cryptocurrencies is currently leading with the transformation that it offers to financial technology.

CBDC's might become a real thing but they wont really that cease to exist or simply they would really be existing together with those CBDC's it would really be that too impossible that these businesses would really be gone to existence just because of such changes.They wont really be letting these things to happen on which their business would be out of nowhere just because been replaced by CBDC's.
WE do know that these institutions are really that long time been used and long time been on existence on which does simply means that they wont really be that losing their position
on this industry.

There might be some changes but doesnt mean that they would be out of existence just becausse of it. We do know that those giants wont really be letting themselves getting
left behind with this game. They would really be neither tending to adapt or tending to create something new.

I think they will tend to disappear, and in fact they are already changing. The ones I have now don't have a space to sign on the back like they used to. With CBDCs and mobile phones, I think they will disappear.

Lol, i thought it was bitcoin that was going to be replaced by CBDC's. ;) According to the governments that are putting plans in place to launch CBDC's in their country, it isn't going to replace paper money. But i am pretty sure they'll really push CBDC's on their citizens, because it helps them to monitor people's finances better.

OP, all that you are asking actually depends on how big of a success CBDC's are going to be in the countries where they'd be launched. My country has already officially launched its own CBDC: e-Naira, and it has been a failure over here and it is definitely not changing anything as regards what we have already been using. As long as people still have their commercial bank accounts, they'd still use credit/debit cards as they have always done.

I'm pretty sure card companies will switch to a virtual model after the launch of CBDCs. Plastic/metal physical cards will become a thing of the past. You'd get a virtual card number and that's it. Just like they've been doing lately. Perhaps, they will make a partnership with the central bank to provide CBDC services for the people. Who knows?

Despite the fact that digital payments will become a part of our daily life in the future, it's going to take a very long time before paper money and plastic cards get phased out. Seniors will be the first ones to reject such a change. Younger generations will embrace the revolution. As long as we're able to experience true financial freedom (through Bitcoin), nothing else matters. :D

The use of debit or credit cards from the gateway payment systems only have the negative vibes of being under a centralized network, which is what most people are now running away from today that make them to adopt the use of bitcoin from a decentralized network, we should also consider that there is more to know about the needs of the people and the services the credit cards organizations offers.

Will CBDC's ever come into existence or are the government satisfied with how the fiat system is operating. Provided the government are those still incharge, we'll always have middlemen so they can tax them, tax the buyer and seller too to make more revenue. The operating days of the debit/credit card might be over but we'll be getting something to replace them with similar mode of operation and not a direct interaction with the central banks. I feel we'll always have payment processors but the only difference is that they might be different from what we have today. The government always loves to be incharge so anything that is getting development has to give them more power and not take power away from them or reduce their power over our finances.


Credit/debit cards are always getting replaced with payment apps that you can make payments with or tap your phone and the payment gets automatically approved. After the central bank digital currency goes public (if it eventually happens) digital cards will also be provided that we'll use for payment and it could still be one of the cards providers or all of them that gets to provide the cards that'll be used. The government will still need the assistance of third party providers to keep everything working perfectly globally.

I think that inasmuch as there's still physical cash in circulation, that debit cards will still be relevant, unless when there's no more needs to carry physical cash around, only then will we see a total digital transactions. CBCD is a new innovation that will eventually eliminate physical cash, and I believe that debit card operators like Mastercard and visa will become innovative too to make their services relevant when there's no more cash to withdraw from the ATMs. We're already living in cashless societies, with mobile banking, so the addition of cbdc will not be strange to costumers.

I think what you are really saying is the physical card will be obsolete.  Well, that might be the case in the near future since most banks and e-wallets are transitioning to QR code.  By having only QR code which is in your phone, it is more convenient for the consumer and no need to hold or get a physical card for transaction.

We have no choice other than using the centralised system, even almost 15 years of bitcoin's existence still it's not possible to use it anywhere if we want to. And I don't think credit card will end as long as banks exists and as long as CBDC exists then banks will exist which means as long as CBDC exists the credit card as well as the payment processors will exists.

I think e-wallets are way more convenient to use than a plastic card but yeah that can only be applied if internet is present in the area and yeah for remote areas ATM is not really an option for now as it can be limited to no access for locals and e-wallets that mostly accepts crypto trading through data connection will be very convenient so far based on my own experience. People nowadays are also more into mobile phones and knows already how to use e-wallets than using a debit card I mean majority knows online transactions compared to ATM transactions.

I don't think physical cards will disappear due to CBDCs, because many people still prefer the physical cards instead of using mobile devices when making payments daily, and I'm one of them. Not every places have internet connection disponible, so I can't use my mobile to execute the payments, therefore I prefer to use the old good offline debit card alternative, otherwise I have to pay some extra costs to keep the internet going on all the time I'm on public areas, and that is not something I'm willing to do, as I consider waste of money...

If middlemen services are going to survive, it's going to depend on how the laws are regulations are going to be passed by the legislative houses of each country. There is a lot of lobby going on these places, so I don't doubt middlemen services will remain. Maybe not Paypal and Mastercard, but something is going to replace them, without any doubts. A free society where people can be autonomous seems not possible to be achieved with the bureaucrats on the reins of our societies.

They will still exist in Europe at least because European citizens will be allowed to only hold a small amount of digital Euro unfortunately. Few thousands of Euros at most. So it will be limited. On top of that if your smartphone is out of order you will need a classic plastic card to pay things instead. I don't think this technology will change society in that way because banks are powerful and they are fighting against it actually.

Debit and credit card usage won't come to an end just because of the increasing usage of cryptocurrency and other digital wallets. The features get advanced with the cards, which means waiting to swipe and then giving the pin and proceeding with the payment is now made easier with a tap on the POS. A similar kind of advancement will happen than just taking away the cards from the market. Even if cryptocurrency reaches the mainstream, we'll be able to see more cards getting into the market with the choice of adding money with cryptocurrencies.

We are talking about a situation that is not really all that different, we are not seeing "end" of debit and credit cards in idea, we are just seeing the shape changing. Like for example back in the day when you had a credit card, it wasn't that simple to use it, you would give it to someone, the shop owner would swipe that in a huge machine, you would sign it, they would call up the bank to get approval etc etc, nowadays you just touch it and it works.

In the near future, your credit card will be in your phone, and you could just read a QR code and that is it, simple as that, which is not really that different, you change the shape of it but the idea is the same and nothing really changes all that much on the long run at all.

It will not become obsolete really fast, I'm pretty sure that plastic cards usage and utility won't ever be gone for a really long time, and there's going to be a lot of people that will never see the point of using cryptocurrency for their daily transaction, I'm sure that some people would still find credit cards and debit cards as a more convenient way to do transaction, the end that you guys are saying isn't something that will happen in 10 years or 20 years, it's definitely going to end in 50 years time or higher but by that time, we're also probably not using any cryptocurrency or bitcoin for transaction, we would probably have another way to do things. Also, it's going to be a difficult thing for these era of credit and debit cards to ever end because they're a simple concept and the banks and financial institutions are benefiting a lot from these cards that they're going to do whatever it takes to prolong it's utility and need.

Visa and MasterCard are businesses and they are not stupid, they are aware of the risks within the competition when comes to CBDS and the plans of the big governments to implement those digital currencies on the phones and desktop computers of each citizen. In my opinion, the government of the United States does not want neither Visa or Mastercard to suffer a crippling decrease of their value and utility because of the launching of the ce realized CBDCs in the USA, so both Visa and MasterCard will be adopted as operators of the centralized system of the central bank, in order for them not to go bankrupt. After all, those companies have much more experience than the central government when comes to managing a huge volume of transactions per second.

Credit cards and and debit cards won't immediately disappear, people will have the options to open their centralized wallet, but those who won't still will use their cards. Those, with the passing of the years, those cards will be indeed replaced. The end game is to break privacy down and further enhance control over the finances if the people, the average Joe who does not have power of choice on what banks do to his money when deposited...

Running from?
There were 14 billions cards in the world in 2016 and there are now 18 billion, that's a growth of 500 million a year!
You know how this looks compared to bitcoin ownership?
Each year there have been more cards issued on top of what we have than 10x times!!! the number of all addresses with a Bitcoin balance in the entire chain!
Between 2012 and 2024 the number of address with a balance has gone up by 2 million, the number of payment cards has gone up by 1.6 billion!

Who is running from what?


You can't compare Nigeria where 2% use credit cards and 80-90% of transactions are cash based to other countries where cash has gone down to 10-20% and the majority of the population has a debit or a credit card , not to mention the difference in trust population in the US or EU have in their currency compared to African countries.

Of course. That has always been the plan. To control people more by limiting their privacy. And what better way to do this than launching government-backed digital currencies (or CBDCs)? Once plastic cards and paper money are phased out, you can say bye-bye to privacy for good. We would be left with Monero as the only way to achieve true financial privacy.

Payment processing giants like VISA, Mastercard, and even PayPal will only get bigger and stronger than ever. They have nothing to lose. It's an uncertain world out there. Thus, we can only hope for the best. ;D

        -   I just believe that the time will come when paper money will become obsolete, but that doesn't mean I think that credit cards or debit cards will disappear. This is what I believe I read in the Bible in Revelation. I am not saying this to say that I am becoming a religious person. 

Because it is written that the time will come on the last day mentioned in the book when money will no longer be used to buy things that are needed, as long as you have a stamp on your forehead, you will be able to buy everything you want. But for now, since we are in digital currency, I think that is far from happening, and there is no mention of CBDC being referred to.

We are talking about the future of Mastercard or Visa, which is currently still in the speculation stage. There is no definite answer about that. But it's okay for discussion.
Mastercare and visas are generally issued by government-owned companies or banks in each country. Of course, what is an asset of the government will be maintained.
We know that the existence of crypto today really helps transactions and guarantees security in the developed blockchain system. Then why is it still difficult for the government to accept crypto, isn't that something good.
If something new becomes commonplace in society, of course what happened before will be abandoned by society.
If the government accepts the blockchain system as the main transaction route, of course transactions at banks will stop, including Visa and Mastercard, and that will be detrimental to the country.

I think the banks will still play a part in an economy ran by cryptocurrencies, centralized or not. I'd argue that it's going to be even easier for them cause now they can just give out loans and money to everyone without having to give them paperbacks, see my point? Makes it even harder for bad-credit or people who run away from loans to evade them cause now they can be tracked, and if a country/a government mandates using a singular wallet for finance, could literally bar these people from even being able to spend money for their food, talk about end of world shit.

Credit and debit will always be a thing long as banks remain relevant, it's just going to take on a new form in a cashless society. Instead of you being provided with a bank card or whatnot, you might just get the number for your bank details or whatever, even more ways for them to cut corners and still provide service, plus they're banks, they can't die down lest it spells economic ruin.

But if you're talking about the future of specific credit providers, that we can't say for sure, most of them are pretty indignant in accepting cryptocurrencies, so things are like a comical tug of war between crypto and banks right now.

Considering how "huge" those two companies are, I am %100 sure that we are going to end up with a lot of trouble if we end up with anything else then these companies figuring out a way. I mean they will probably have hard time if we just use our apps, because banks would be able to just directly deal with it, without needing cards.

To be fair there were a lot of industries and companies that used to be rich or at least do well, but then no longer needed because technology improved. Like back in the day we had phone books where you looked at a yellow book to find a number, or had encyclopaedia that everyone had in their home back in the day, none of that exists anymore and that is why it's maybe time for visa and mastercard to slowly bankrupt too, who knows.

Please give an example of a government-owned company that issues those cards! I'm all ears!
Oh and just because you're a teacher at some school and you get your wage on a special card that doesn't mean the school or the minister of education is neither the issuer nor the balance holder. Most government agencies are not licensed for financial or money transmitting licenses, they won't even be able to do such a thing.


The app is just an extension!
What matters is the settling thing, not what Visa does between you and the bank but what Visa does between your bank and the merchant's bank!
That's the infrastructure that matters and nothing has even come close in two decades to be a rival for it!

It might put in a lower usage to debit card use but credit cards will still have a lot of volume for 2 reasons.

1) Someone doesn’t have the cash to buy something so they can only do it on credit and they use the credit card.

2) Credit cards pay rewards for all purchases like 1% for groceries, 2% for gas , 3% for restaurants and as long as it’s paid off, no interest is charged and you get to keep the rewards. Hence the reason why so many people are paying for everything by credit card these days.

Actually this may happen if the CBDC exist but I don't think it will immediately ceased the use of credit card except allot of sensitization is made to people most the remote area or rural areas where some illiterate exist, or those which age is on their side, second most of the third world countries still lacking the required technical and standard network for most of this transaction I could remember during COVID in my nation it so difficult to transact online with mobile device, but if all this is conquered there will be no room for credit card in time to come in my opinion.

Millions still use actual cards. Not everyone is tech-savvy or has fast internet. Converting everything to digital takes time. Security is another issue. This is digital money, therefore we need to authenticate identities without compromising convenience or opening the door to hackers. This is significant stuff we can't ignore

Remember Visa and Mastercard, the big boys. These guys won't leave soon. They've got the money, experience, and infrastructure to adapt. They may even become CBDC transaction facilitators or security consultants. The key is, they won't surrender. CBDCs might be the future, but the shift won't be easy. There are many moving elements and significant challenges to address. But it's also about how we connect that technology into our existing systems, assure security and convenience, and adapt to a quickly changing financial world

Of course. Transitioning from the analog to digital world is a process that takes time to accomplish. Right now, Internet access is limited in certain areas of the world. So it's hard to believe CBDCs will become the cornerstone of our economy anytime soon. It could take decades before this happens. Rest assured that financial giants such as VISA and Mastercard won't be going anywhere soon. They will eventually adapt to the latest trends in the Fintech space, to stay ahead of the game.

Physical cards will become a thing of the past, as we shift our focus to truly-digital payments. I believe virtual cards will dominate the industry in the future. Who cares? As long as we have decentralized cryptocurrencies at our side, there should be nothing to worry about. ;D

I don't know for develop countries but the system of CBDC looks more realistic to urban areas than rural areas where they will still have to depend on credit and debit card system. The banking system doesn't depend on internet protocol of the public but it's own local network for efficiency, this is why credit and debit card work in many places where there seems not to be stable network for people to use.

It will take a while even in the cities where network are stable because the credit and debit card system will take time before they transition into that system. The commercial banks wouldn't be happy about such developments because the transaction fees and charges they benefit from debit cards are one of the reason their system is alive today, they wouldn't like CBDC to flourish.

I do not think that we are going to really end it, we may change shape of it, but the idea that you need a credit card is still there. Sure it could turn into an app, but that doesn't mean that we are going to be getting rid of the mastercard or visa situation, they might be the ones that start an app for it and they may keep on making billions from it as well.

I do not really understand what it is that they do to make this much money that others can't do, I feel like others should be possible to do the same thing, but I guess it's a very difficult business to enter so I believe that these two companies will continue to make as much money as they want from this even if they have to change shape to fit the new technology that comes with it.

Already we have seen UPI based cash withdrawals at AGM and even UPI based credit cards being launched in India, this is done in order to have market capitalisation as banks and other financial firms will not bow down to CBDC easily and they may be able to remove debit card with this move but they cannot replace credit card unless they start issuing retail loans. I think the concept of credit card will remain but the method will change as it would be UPI based.

In my opinion, whether the use of credit/debit cards is popular or not depends on how quickly CBDC is adopted among the public. However, I think that although CBDC provides many conveniences, its level of popularity will probably take several years to come. And currently, perhaps the use of credit/debit cards is still very popular and still needed among the public.

In my country, specifically the area where i stay, if you visit 100 shops or supermarket around that area, you can make your payment via bank transfer or a payment processor that you will need to scan the shop Payment QR code and make payment. Credit and debit card is still in use but lots of people are paying via tranfers which is making credit and debit card to gradually become useless. There's this my X girlfriend, she doesn't have a debit card, every payment she make is via tranfers.

CBDC probably gonna take advantage fully of the fact that the issuer is the law maker, you know the government could easily introduce CBDC and just let people use it for digital transaction sort of using e-money which many countries right now are starting to use.
the presence of CBDC will probably not gonna disrupt debit card or credit card at all it has its own niche and the fact that these cards could be used for transaction internationally and is accepted in most of e-commerce not gonna get fazed by the existence of CBDC.

CBDC if truly released, I guess at best gonna just be disruptive toward the stablecoins though, from where the CBDC value gonna get derived if not from the fiat, the entire mechanism resembles stablecoin and yes I think so too probably these CBDC already designed to work together with those debit cards and credit card pretty sure the entire system probably gonna get integrated with banking system.

There is a long way to go before CBDC's ever become a contender for existing payment systems, but then I don't understand why they would even be replaced anyway? These financial services could adapt to become secure wallets for storing these digital currencies and are likely investigating that sort of transition even now. However CBDC's are still in the most basic stage, even just at the information and research stage, and nowhere near the full scale implementation stage and would take potentially decades to earn the trust of the average consumer. There may even be push back from consumers who don't necessarily see any additional benefits and older generations can be particularly slow to adjust to new technologies.

I don't know what the future of CBDCs is going to be, but if I had to guess as to the future of credit card processors, I'd say they're going to find a way to profit from whatever happens--just like big oil companies will figure out how to make money from whatever fuel source powers our future automobiles and big tobacco companies getting involved with e-cigarettes and/or vaping products.

But Jesus, I'm not looking forward to the day when US citizens have to use a form of money that gives no privacy whatsoever.  That's obviously what people want, since I see people paying with cards or phones all day long.  It'd be nice if physical currency existed alongside CBDCs, but as everyone here seems to be aware of, that's not what the government is aiming for.

Scary, man.

We have been discussing CBDC for many years but one thing we need to realize is that many governments do not even intend to develop and deploy CBDC. So, I also doubt that CBDC will be implemented soon and replace current payment methods or will compete directly with cryptocurrencies as many people are imagining.

I know there have been some governments issuing CBDCs like China and Nigeria...But I remember earlier this year, the Fed Chairman also said that they have no intention or plan to issue CBDC to replace USD, and my country has not made any announcement about this.

https://imgtr.ee/images/2024/06/16/efd54237de2b9f2b743ca6007ce5f85c.png
https://cryptoslate.com/fed-chair-powell-confirms-regulator-has-no-plans-to-recommend-adopt-cbdcs/

I have a theory that if allowed they might make cards that instead of fiat, there is crypto. It would be quite complicated though considering that the value of any currency fluctuates making the components of the card change.

But it is just an idea that a bank might want to capitalize off of. I would just have to give them to navigate through the technical things.

I think they are going to continue to exist in some way or another, but I am not sure how. It seems to me that the government of the United States and the Central Bank/Federal Reserve of that country won't be foolish enough to completely replace those companies and tanking the value of the value of their shares in the stock market. If I had to guess, Visa, MasterCard and PayPal are going to work as agents or workers in the process of the functioning of the CBDC itself, by providing technological infrastructure and cryptographic security for the centralized system to work.
I am just guessing, of course, In spite of the name/term we use, just because a CBDC is issued by the Federal reserve or the central bank, it does not mean they are going to completely get rid of the middle man when one carry out transactions. It is a matter of control or the data and the flow of money, not about people saving money and erasing the middle man.

Credit/debit card users will continue to dominate because not everyone understands the use of CBDC. Moreover, the presence of CBDC can make it easier for people to make transactions, but credit/debit cards are also needed when making transactions, for example when you forget to bring your cellphone.

Isn't the future all about "digitization"? This means the transition from the analog world to the digital world. Physical/tangible items like paper money, plastic cards, and even passes/tickets will become a thing of the past. Credit/debit card companies are already providing access to virtual cards.

With digital payments becoming the norm since the emergence of COVID-19, it should only be a matter of time before plastic cards are phased out. Especially now with banks announcing their intentions to launch CBDCs. Everything will be "contactless" and digital. RWAs (Real World Assets) on Blockchains, and NFTs are just the tip of the iceberg. Don't expect existing payment processors to go anywhere despite the recent advancements in the FinTech space. They will change their business model to stay ahead of the game. Who cares about these greedy corporations? As long as we have a fair money system like Bitcoin, there should be nothing to worry about. ;)

I think that there's still gonna be usage for these cards with CBDCs. We can see that exchanges have made crypto debit cards and that's why I think that there will be soon CBDC cards that are mainly going to be use for this purpose. Also, having a card is also a back up if the mobile app or desktop app intended for it doesn't work. That's why they're also likely here to stay just as how BTC is going to be.

As for PayPal, mastercard, visa and other giant and known payment processors, they sure are going to survive. And, they anticipate something like this to happen and it is imminent. They have all planned all of these on how they're going to react with such innovation and they don't want to get left behind. It's either they make something out of this or the most common strategy of these companies is to join the bandwagon.

There's no other way round with it but just to be adaptable and deal with the situation. They're in the financial technology and everything is going to innovate from now on. We might have been seeing the peak of it but there's gotta be more and let's see how the CBDCs are going to change th game for all of these tech giants but I don't think that us, who are into Bitcoin should be worried with them.

We can make cardless transactions by scanning a QR code, but when we don't have internet access, using a card is the best option. Also, it would be great to get a loan directly from the central bank and avoid the commissions of the intermediary banks. Actually, it is possible to get loans at rates close to policy rates through state banks, but an all-inclusive system through the central bank sounds good. Yes, it all sounds good, but are we missing what we feared: CBCDCs, citizenship points, annnnnd welcome, 1984 Orwell.

The transformation of everything to digital also reveals the need for adaptation. There are many people who cannot keep up with innovations. There are many people who will not prefer the innovations made. It is always difficult to give up old habits, and if these habits have been used until now and no problems have been observed, there may be many people who will not keep up with the change.

It is also an important issue whether the changes to be made are safe and useful. Change takes time and must be chosen.