By Tom Phillips[1] • • Updated • nfcw.com[2]
The delivery of payment cards worldwide will continue to be “severely” impacted by global chip shortages and disruptions in the supply chains of other materials into and throughout 2023, according to a Smart Payment Association[3] (SPA) forecast.
“This ongoing supply challenge results from a range of factors including post-Covid recovery leading to a surge in demand for semiconductors,” the researchers say.
“Additionally, payment card deliveries are suffering from extended lead times for key raw material supplies such as plastic, metal and other components of a smart card.
“This is due to various factors including recent Covid-related factory shutdowns in China, and global supply chain disruptions created by materials shortages and freight capacities still not at the pre-Covid level.”
The SPA announced that annual global shipments of contactless payment cards and modules exceeded 2bn[4] for the first time during 2021 and that “the figures would have been higher had it not been for the chip shortage affecting the industry” earlier this month.
Next: Get your free registration to Contactless World Congress, a new kind of event for a new kind of world.[5]
