In the use of electronic payment technology, there is strategic complementarity and hence
room for self-fulfilling multiple equilibria. But existing relevant literature is silent about
how agents’ expectations become coordinated. This paper resolves the coordination problem
in the use of a non-deferred electronic means of payment, which can be represented by a
debit card. We focus on that because it is almost a perfect substitute for cash. The presence of
exogenous shocks that have a fundamental impact on the cost of the technology makes agents
coordinate their expectations in a particular way. We also show that a high inflation and a
distortionary financing scheme for debit-card transactions cost disturb coordination in the
use of debit cards.