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The Payment Industry. We wrote the book. Really.

There are many signs that the payment industry as we know it is at an inflection point.  American Express is franchising its brand. MasterCard has gone public and Visa has plans to do the same.  Discover has added the Pulse electronic network and begun issuing co-branded cards with Wal-Mart. New technologies like contactless have the potential to finally make smart cards smart and to turn mobile phones into electronic wallets. And, Google and Microsoft have the potential to shift the balance of power away from the current incumbents if they ever really get behind the idea of electronic wallets.

MPD principals know the payment industry: Our experts have spent more than twenty-five years researching the industry’s most pressing business matters and helping some of the industry’s major players successfully navigate its complexity. And, we’ve literally written the book on the payment card industry. Paying with Plastic, 2nd ed. (MIT Press, 2005) is considered the industry’s most authoritative monograph. Written by MPD Founder, David S. Evans, and MPD Chairman, Richard Schmalensee, it examines the inner workings of an industry relied upon by many and understood by few.

MPD teams have helped emerging and traditional players around the world rethink their strategies in light of four change-drivers that are forcing new products, strategies and market focus in the payment card industry as a result of the critical juncture at which the industry is at today. Our expertise is in helping new and emerging players effectively navigate changes to industry structure, changes in industry economics, changes in use of payment cards, and changes brought by new technologies and market entrants.