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Data for today’s episode is provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s Viewpoint Titled: Contactless POS Payments Finally Ready For Prime Time
Card networks have stepped up their contactless distribution
- The wifi symbol has become a familiar sight: Visa plans to have 300 million contactless cards in the US by 2021
- All new cardholders of AMEX and Discover receive contactless cards as the replacement.
- The loser in this scenario is physical cash use in quick-stop destinations and low priced items
- In April 2020, Mastercard reported 51% of U.S. consumers are using contactless payments
- Visa has stated that 60% of their U.S. face-to-face transactions are contactless
- Further support for contactless derives from POS terminal makers who are saturating enterprise merchant in-store networks
Abstract of the Viewpoint
Several years in the making, contactless payment cards are finally arriving in large numbers at mailboxes throughout the U.S., as domestic cardholders catch up with the rest of the world. But contactless goes beyond plastic cards, with mobile apps providing another payment option for consumers to choose. While COVID-19 has accelerated contactless in 2020, payment providers and merchants now see that no-contact POS transactions can be a differentiating strategy to engage and expand their customer base beyond the pandemic.
