Going Cashless at the Point of Sale: Hits and Misses in Developed Countries

This paper by Ignacio Mas reviews some of the bigger failures and some of the more promising experiences in the use of smartcards and mobile phones as payment platforms in developed countries. We selected just a few examples – from dozens of possibilities – and did not delve into much detail on any given scheme. Beyond telling the stories of these ventures, our objective is to extract some lessons behind the failures and the successes.