01/09/2011

By Scott Thompson

Visa Europe has released its first Contactless Barometer to benchmark consumer take-up of new payment methods. The research, of 2,000 UK consumers, showed positive feedback about contactless technology and a hunger for wider availability in mainstream retail outlets.

Eighty five per cent of contactless users said that they would recommend it to their friends and family and 90 per cent think it makes life simpler. Twenty eight per cent said that there aren’t enough retail outlets offering contactless payments and 57 per cent noted they have never been asked to pay with contactless in a shop. Thirty seven per cent cited this as the main barrier preventing them using the technology.

Mark Austin, head of contactless at Visa Europe, comments: “We’ve developed the Barometer to help us benchmark changes in consumer attitudes and take-up of contactless payments. It’s good to see that users of contactless are satisfied with the technology but it’s also clear that many consumers would like to see it become more widely available across the country.”

The Barometer found that the main benefits to consumers of contactless are: the speed in paying as opposed to cash (31 per cent); 53 per cent like not having to hand their card over to a cashier; 55 per cent appreciate not having to carry cash in their wallet/purse and 51 per cent like not having to carry loose change; 48 per cent like not having to plan to take cash out from an ATM; 44 per cent expressed concern about security if their card gets stolen, suggesting issuing banks need to do more to educate their customers.

Austin concludes: “We are now taking the first steps on the road to becoming a ‘less-cash’ society. The Barometer offers a snapshot of changing attitudes towards payment technology and consumer experiences of using it on the high street. The two key takeaways for me are the need for retailers to keep pace with consumer demand and also for our industry to take steps to ensure consumers are reassured about the security measures present in all contactless cards.”

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