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| "A broad range of products at very competitive rates" |
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Interview: Una Dillon
Given their favourable rates structure,
bank cards are well placed to grow in Ireland. |
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• What are the characteristics of
bank cards on the Irish market?
Una Dillon: The Irish cards market
currently consists of 2.3 million credit cards
and 1.3 million debit cards (Laser). There are
also 4.3 million ATM cards, and combined
ATM and debit cards (1 million).
• What is IPSO’s role on this market?
The Irish Payment Services Organisation* (IPSO)
is the umbrella body for payment services for
financial institutions in Ireland.The company
provides strategic and technical support to the
payments industry in Ireland.
• Are cards the preferred method of
payment by the Irish?
No. Irish consumers are still high cash users.
It is precisely to prompt consumers to use bank cards more frequently that IPSO established a
working group called "Cash to Cards Strategy".
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| SEPA is the
next major
project on the
horizon for
the Irish cards
industry.” |
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• What are the main changes underway on
the bank card market?
The first major change is the migration to EMV
which began in Ireland in July 2004. Currently,
all point-of-sale terminals, all credit cards and
more than 85% of debit cards are “Chip and
PIN”. SEPA is the next major project on the
horizon for the Irish cards industry. IPSO is working
closely with banks to ensure smooth migration
within the permitted time frames, and has
created a special task force for this purpose.
The Irish banks are working to ensure that all
debit, withdrawal and credit cards as well as
ATMs and Eftpos terminals are Sepa Cards
Framework-compliant by 1st January 2008.
* www.ipso.ie |
| • Interview by
Nicolas Humbert |
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Republic of Ireland
in figures |
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79 million transactions in 2005
on debit cards with a total spend
of 5.2 billion euros. |
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| 3000
ATMs in service for 4.3 million
withdrawal cards. |
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10
banks and financial institutions are members of IPSO, established
in 1997. |
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