Contactless payment adoption will be boosted in the US, UK, Germany and China as restrictions due to COVID-19 are relaxed, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics Consumer Insights team.
The Strategy Analytics Wireless Media Strategies (WMS) service report “COVID-19 Consumer Mobile Payment Insights,” finds that almost 30% of US consumers indicated contactless payments as their preferred method of payment post COVID-19. China is by far the mobile payments leader with over half of consumers preferring mobile payment over cards and cash.
“Contactless payment adoption will receive a boost across each of the countries surveyed, including China, Germany, the U.S. and UK,” Nitesh Patel, director, Strategy Analytics, said. “However, while growth in contactless payment use will increase most in the US it is set to remain a contactless payments laggard, with significantly greater adoption in China, Germany and the UK.”
The report examines the payment behaviors of consumers across these four countries in the wake of COVID-19 and identifies which consumers are looking to embrace both mobile and contactless payments.
“With the exception of China, there is significantly greater consumer preference for contactless cards over mobile contactless payments, particularly for older age groups,” David Kerr, vice president, Strategy Analytics, noted. “A bridge of trust still needs to be built for mobile payments to older consumers. The much younger population in China and greater familiarity with mobile first practices is reflected in over half of consumers indicating it as a mobile as the preferred payment instrument. For older consumers in US and Europe much greater ease of use and reliability at POS is required according to our UX team research.”