Report: Contactless Payments Gain on Credit Cards

Credit cards may be consumers preferred way to pay, but contactless methods are waiting in the wings.

The latest installment of PYMNTS’ Next-Gen Debit Tracker, done in collaboration with PULSE, shows that while 42% of people surveyed said they preferred making transactions by credit card, 36% said they preferred contactless options.

Get the tracker: Banks Must Do More to Meet Contactless Payment Needs of Debit Card Users

These preferences and causing retailers to change the payment options they offer, with more than three-quarters of merchants saying they offer contactless payments. Mobile wallets were the most common offerings (63%), followed by touchless card payments (44%) and QR codes (25%).

About a third of consumers reported that they wanted merchants to keep contactless payments as an option once the pandemic subsides. The report also found that consumers are making 37% of their monthly purchases online. That’s reflected in what retailers are seeing, as they report they now get 58% of their total sales through online channels

Asia-Pacific Consumers Favor Mobile Payments

Also in the tracker, a study that found that 90% of consumers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region have used mobile payment apps at least once in the last year.

More than half of these consumers reported using digital payment methods at least once per week, while roughly 15% said they began using digital options when the pandemic started.

These findings reflect the rise of digital payments in the APAC region, with 58% of consumers who regularly make digital payments saying they used mobile payment apps, and 53% saying they used mobile banking apps. Debit cards were also more popular than credit cards in the region, with 36% and 33%, respectively.

The report also indicated a mobile-first approach to accessing digital payment methods, noting that APAC has one of the highest concentrations of mobile use on the planet. Smartphone adoption in APAC is expected to jump to more than 80% by 2025, with 63% of digital users making payments on Android smartphones compared to 25% on laptops.