Accounting and Financial Management Research Seminar – Dr Gordon Mayze
Date: Wednesday 12 March 2025 | Time: 14:00 to 15:00
Location: Newcastle University Business School (NUBS), Room 2.08
- Guest speakers
The Accounting and Financial Management research group welcomes Dr Gordon Mayze.
He will present his work, entitled "The (Dis)Orderly Emergence of the UK Debit Card at the Dawn of the Digital Economy in the 1970s-1980s."
About the speaker
Dr Gordon Mayze is a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and spent two decades in industry, including a decade at Lloyds Banking Group, managing teams in financial reporting, strategy, and regulatory reforms. He completed his PhD at the University of Manchester and specialises in financialisation, banking reform, and historical finance studies.
Research abstract
The debit card established the foundations for a cashless society, enabling real-time digital transactions. While debit cards were envisioned in the 1960s, significant progress was not made until the mid-1970s in the USA, where early attempts failed.
This presentation, based on extensive archival research at UK clearing banks, explores the UK's efforts to develop a debit card. Initially a collaborative effort supported by the UK Government and the Bank of England, the initiative collapsed when Barclays decided to launch its own debit card, Connect, in 1987. Although Barclays was the first mover, its strategy led to market tensions, regulatory intervention, and missed advantages.
The findings offer a critical perspective on financial innovation theories and draw parallels to current discussions on financial technology and payment infrastructures.