A new report from the RFi Group that surveyed 32,000 respondents in 16 countries found that Australians are the world leaders in contactless ownership and usage. According to the results of the survey, two thirds of Australians are now aware they own a contactless payment card and 53% have made a contactless transaction. Beyond Australia, the RFi Group found that Singaporeans and Taiwanese consumers are the next most likely consumer groups to have and use a contactless payment card.
The survey found growing regular use of contactless cards as enabled terminals become more widely available. Globally, the RFI Group found that 60% of contactless card users use their cards at least once per week, up from 43% in 2014. However the report also surveyed consumers on other topics like digital wallets and found consumers in Indonesia (49%), the UAE (46%) and China (45%) are the most likely to consider the concept of a digital wallet appealing whereas consumers in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, US and Canada are the least likely to consider them appealing.
Commenting on the results of the survey, author of the report and managing director at RFi Group Alan Shields said,
“When we look at the pace with which payments markets are evolving around the world and the rapid innovation occurring in mobile and digital payments, it is easy to forget about the barriers that exist to halt evolutionary progress. We have long known that the key factors to payments uptake are security, convenience and speed, but for the sceptics there are significant hurdles in the form of understanding and need which have to be overcome.”
With shipments of contactless and EMV enabled cards on the rise globally, the consumer ownership and use of these cards should increase sharply around the world but where growth won’t be so uniform is in digital wallet adoption where clear differences in consumer preferences are emerging and challenging industry perceptions regarding the appeal of mobile payment and mobile wallet solutions.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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