While NFC-enabled transactional processes are gradually being adopted in the U.S., consumers in Europe are demonstrating wide and rapid adaptation to the behavior. The rapid uptake of contactless payments in Europe bear witness to the value in “tiering” of purchases by value being incorporated into the checkout process by merchants in the region.
The popularity of this fast way to pay has been driven by new “everyday spend” merchants incorporating contactless into their check-out.
Consumers have been using contactless to pay for everyday purchases such as lunches and coffee, with restaurants experiencing the greatest year-on-year growth in contactless transactions (153%), followed by general retail (146%), supermarkets (119%) and, food and drink including fast food (96%).
Much in the way that payment card transactions under set thresholds do not require signature or PIN in the U.S., merchants are accelerating their own checkout processes with contactless transactions on ‘everyday’ purchases. The article also recognizes the large-scale rollout of contactless point of sale devices to merchants, and the use of contactless transaction technology when using public transportation.
Mercator Advisory Group anticipates broader segmentation of transaction value effectively dictating the level of authentication required will become more commonplace as merchants seek to find the balance between fraud prevention and expediency.
Overview by Joseph Walent, Senior Analyst, Emerging Technologies at Mercator Advisory Group
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