More than three quarters of British consumers have concerns about using new payment methods, the latest research suggests.

The data from law firm Paul Hastings, which surveyed more than 2,000 UK consumers, found that 77 per cent of Brits expressed security fears regarding new payment technologies.

The risk of fraud was cited as the main reason (59 per cent) for UK consumers being unwilling to use new payment methods, followed by data security incidents (49 per cent) and the risk of theft (45 per cent). The survey also showed that around a quarter (27 per cent) of British consumers do not currently use ‘new’ payments methods.

When asked what the most desirable feature of a new payment method would be, nearly half (49 per cent) of those surveyed said a reduced risk of fraud. However, Paul Hastings notes that fraud risks exist with traditional payments methods and new payment method providers are often at the forefront of the development or adoption of ways to addressing fraud risks, such as the use of tokenisation, which helps drive both product and security innovation.

Ben Regnard-Weinrabe, a partner at Paul Hastings said: “Our research shows that many British consumers have yet to make the most of the variety of new payment methods at their fingertips, with concerns around fraud and theft appearing to be an issue.

“Assuaging these concerns is one of the most important challenges facing the adoption of emerging payment methods, with providers of new payment methods often at the vanguard of developing and adopting ways to tackle fraud risks, while regulatory developments such as the Second Payments Services Directive are concurrently working to address security risks to the benefit of the consumer.”

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