Read the following passage and answer the item that follows. Your answer to this item should be based on the passage only.

The history of digital payment systems suggests there is a steep learning curve, meaning that, as more transactions are processed, costs fall rapidly because of network effects and learning by doing. A payment platform's technological improvement is path dependent: the more transactions a platform processes, the more likely it is to improve further in the future. The strongest evidence for this is the collapse in the per transaction cost of mobile payments, which became about 80% cheaper over a decade, repeatedly beating early projections. Moving early and expanding gradually gives economies more time to adjust, allowing them to capture the benefits of path dependent digital infrastructure investment without much disruption. A late, more chaotic transition to digital payments is costlier.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the central idea conveyed by the passage?