While wireless communications devices may increasingly be used for contactless payments, they are unlikely to fully replace credit cards, it is claimed.
Neil Munroe, spokesman for Equifax, explains that contactless payments are particularly used for low-value transactions.
Even if people do adopt wireless communications devices on a large scale, he does not expect to see the size of transactions conducted rise significantly.
"Once people get used to it, they will probably have a little bit of reticence about using it for large transactions," he says.
As usage does expand, however, Mr Munroe also anticipates that credit card providers will begin to move into the contactless arena on a larger scale.
He estimates that "most of them" already have plans to support non-contact payments, if they do not already do so.
As a result of this, he does not foresee that the technology will impact on the credit card industry in a negative way.
Posted by Simon Jones