Consumers Still Love Their Physical Cards Even as Digital Wallet Use Expands

Watch more: Need to Know: Thales’ Gustavo Menezes

Even as digital wallets, instant provisioning and tokenized credentials reshape how consumers pay, physical cards continue to show surprising staying power. In a payments ecosystem defined by speed and abstraction, the tangible card remains a familiar, reliable presence.

That relevance is not theoretical. Gustavo Menezes, senior vice president of payments North America at Thales, said recent studies show that physical cards remain central to everyday spending habits, even as digital options proliferate.

The growth of contactless payments has strengthened the role of physical cards rather than diminished it. Menezes pointed to data showing 53% of consumers now prefer contactless payments in stores, a category that includes both tap-to-pay cards and mobile wallets. Within that group, physical cards are still the preference of consumers.

“Contactless payments include both cards and mobile wallets, but the cards itself represent more than double of the preference than the mobile payments today,” Menezes said.

For him, that preference reflects behavior rather than technology. “We talk about contactless, so it’s about the human behavior of tap to pay,” he told PYMNTS.

That same behavior is now shaping activation and onboarding. Menezes noted that new activation methods allow users to activate cards by tapping them to their phones, which he described as “much more secure and convenient than just calling the bank or sending a text message.”

The Card as a Personal Badge

Beyond convenience, Menezes emphasized that physical cards carry emotional and symbolic value. “The card works as a kind of a personal badge,” he said, “of status for the consumer.”

That sense of identity goes beyond payment utility. “It’s not only a means of payment,” Menezes added. “They feel connected and that the card itself represents that style of life.” The physical card, in this sense, becomes a visible extension of how consumers see themselves and the brands they choose.

That emotional connection plays a meaningful role in card acquisition. Menezes said premium cards are often aspirational, helping drive interest in specific card products. Design, finish and uniqueness can influence whether a consumer applies, sometimes even before rewards or rates enter the equation.

“The card, a premium card that’s a unique card, is most of the time kind of an object of desire for many customers,” he said. “So that definitely drives acquisition for a specific card product.”

Despite innovation across wallets and apps, cards continue to dominate at the point of sale. Menezes said physical cards remain the preferred in-store payment method for more than 80% of U.S. consumers, underscoring their role as the default payment credential.

That preference reflects trust, familiarity and acceptance. Even consumers who use mobile wallets expect the physical card to be there as a dependable fallback.

Issuers Must Focus on the Full Experience

As expectations rise, issuers are being judged not just on card design or mobile app interfaces, but on the entire experience surrounding card issuance. Menezes said issuers often invest heavily in front-end experience, missing out on what happens between card request and delivery.

“The card needs to look good. The mobile app needs to look good,” he said. “But the whole experience, from the moment you request a card to the moment you receive it, needs to be smooth and should not create any type of friction.”

Consumers increasingly expect an Amazon-like experience, in Menezes’s illustration, with confirmation, visibility and predictability throughout the process. Menezes said removing uncertainty during delivery reduces anxiety and improves satisfaction.

Choice, Speed and Lower Stress

Giving consumers choice is central to that experience. Menezes said users want control over how and when they receive their cards. “As an end user, depending on my needs, I might want to receive my card faster,” he said. “I want the power to select that.”

Real-time visibility benefits issuers as well. Menezes noted that when customers can track delivery, service calls drop, improving operational efficiency while strengthening trust.

The need for integration becomes most evident when something goes wrong. Menezes described card loss or theft as a moment when stress spikes.

In those moments, consumers expect immediate control. “I need to be able for my mobile app to block my card and lock it” right away, Menezes said. “After that, immediately I want to make sure that I can keep transacting.”

That means issuing a digital card instantly while also offering a fast replacement physical card. Menezes emphasized that physical and digital cards must function as one connected system to reduce anxiety and preserve trust.

Premium card experiences are no longer limited to a narrow elite. Menezes said mass-affluent consumers increasingly expect premium defined by convenience, real-time controls and seamless convergence between physical and digital cards.

He pointed to Brazil as an example, citing the successful rollout of mass-affluent card portfolios when design, production and infrastructure are aligned. Real-time connectivity allows issuers to scale premium experiences quickly without sacrificing quality.

Premium Cards and Personalization

Personalization has become a key differentiator for physical cards. Menezes said giving users the ability to customize their cards changes how they engage. “A big part of this premium experience means that I need to feel that my card is unique,” he said.

That sense of ownership drives usage. Menezes said customers tend to use personalized cards more frequently and more quickly than standard-issued cards. Some issuers have also introduced paid personalization options, with customers willing to pay extra to add images or custom designs.

As payments continue to evolve, Menezes said physical cards remain essential because they provide something digital credentials alone cannot. “The physical card is a concrete representation of trust,” he told PYMNTS. “If something unexpected happens, even though you have your mobile phone or your mobile wallet, you always can trust your physical card, and that it’s going to work.”