For all Silicon Valley’s tech dominance, the US has lagged Europe for much of this century in advances in mobile phone networks and payment systems.
Crystal-clear voice calls and contactless payments came to the continent long before their widespread availability in America. Chip-and-pin credit cards had only arrived a decade after their adoption in Europe, while New York’s subway system just moved in 2021 to express contactless payments at barriers with your phone.
I returned on Monday from three weeks in the US, where I was struck by how far payments have come since my last visit five years ago. A Covid aversion to keypads, combined with tech from the likes of Square and Apple Pay meant there was contactless everywhere I went.
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