There is no sovereign EU mobile OS. Adding a hard dependency to Android/iOS is removing one US hard dependency in your payment stack to add another. So, physical cards are a must until there is a European mobile OS with widespread adoption (i.e. never).
Unfortunately, the EU approach here has been not only adding this iOS/Android hard dependency, but also locking it down with crap like device attestation to make sure that it is impossible to use their "sovereign" systems without a US corporation (Google/Apple) certified device. They are actively hostile to alternatives like Lineage or Graphene for instance.
ATM cards are still safer than mobile based payments.
Elderly fraud in the US, scam/fraud calls and digital arrests in India are made possible by social engineering attacks and duping people.
For ATMs, if one has online transactions turned off (default option when you get a new card in India for most if not all cards), it is impossible. One has to walk to an ATM in a crowded place, insert the card, enter a PIN, and can only then withdraw money.
Millions in India use debit cards this way.
> For ATMs, if one has online transactions turned off (default option when you get a new card in India for most if not all cards), it is impossible. One has to walk to an ATM in a crowded place, insert the card, enter a PIN, and can only then withdraw money.
So you're really saying that not being able to transact cashlessly at all is safer than being able to do so? I'd agree, but it's also somewhat inconvenient.