Drivers of card payments in the European Union: catching up or divergence?

Purpose This study analyzes whether recent evolutions in the card payments landscape are characterized by a convergence process among European countries, distinguishing between payments initiated at the physical point of sale and those initiated remotely. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on data from selected European Union countries between 2014 and 2023. We assess the existence of conditional beta convergence within a dynamic panel analysis framework, estimated using the System GMM estimator. Evidence of sigma convergence is identified by analyzing the dispersion in card payments over time. Findings We find evidence of sigma and beta convergence for all card payments made at physical points of sale and for the number of remote card payments. However, when considering the value of remote card payments, only sigma convergence is observed. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by creating two distinct models for physical card payments and remote card payments, based on the rise of online payments. Moreover, we investigate whether the convergence of card payments was influenced by the sanitary crisis.