Cashless society still far away for most European markets — GlobalData — “The closest market to the cashless ideal is Norway, where cash accounted for only 7% of all transactions in 2016 (down from 11% in 2011). The Scandinavian markets generally are the least reliant on cash in the region, with cash accounting for 18% of all transactions in Sweden in 2016, and 26% in Denmark… The most cash-dependent market in Europe is Italy, where cash accounted for 82% of all transactions in the market in 2016 (down from 88% in 2011).”
Research
Emerging markets top mobile payments awareness index
More than half of consumers around the world (52%) now say they know which types of mobile payment services are available to them today, but the percentage varies widely between individual countries and across different regions and consumers in emerging markets are significantly more aware of their options than those in the developed world... More
NFC mobile payments ‘shake off the novelty tag’ in the UK
British consumers used their mobile phones to spend more than £370m (US$477m) in stores equipped with contactless payments terminals during the first half of 2017, an increase of 336% on the amount spent during the first half of 2016, transaction data analysis conducted by payments processor Worldpay has found... More
Mobile payment usage ‘remains low’, US debit card study finds
“Combined, Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay account for only about one quarter of 1% of US debit transactions,” the annual Debit Issuer Study from debit and ATM network Pulse has found, while the country’s move to EMV chip cards has cut debit card fraud loss rates but “fraud continues to challenge issuers.”... More
Report: 2017 Mobile Payment Usage in China
Report: 2017 Mobile Payment Usage in China — Tencent Research Institute — “Chinese consumers spent US$5.5tn via mobile payment platforms last year, about 50 times more than their American counterparts… 74% of people stated that they can live for more than a month with only 100 RMB (US$14.94) in cash. 84% people reported that they could accept a totally cashless life.”
UK card expenditure statistics: June 2017
UK card expenditure statistics: June 2017 — UK Finance — “There were just under 1.4bn card payments in June, a monthly record and a 12% rise in the last 12 months. This is the highest annual rate of growth in the number of payments since June 2008, driven by a robust rise in online (+20%) and contactless (+143%) purchases… Contactless payments accounted for 34% of all card transactions, while online payments accounted for 13%.”
European consumers give thumbs up to biometric payment cards
Nine in ten consumers taking part in the first European trial of a biometric payment card developed by Mastercard say they “would upgrade or probably upgrade” their favourite card to one that includes the biometric security feature if it was available, a survey by issuing bank UniCredit Bulbank has found... More
Half a billion people in China use mobile payment
Half a billion people in China use mobile payment — ECNS — “More than 100bn transactions were completed on cashless applications in China in 2016, while the number of mobile payment users has reached half a billion this year, according to official data.”
UK retailers call for higher contactless transaction limit
More than half of UK retailers that accept contactless payments would like to see the spending limit raised above the current £30 (US$40) cap, with 37% opting for £50 (US$66) and one in five hoping to see a £100 (US$132) ceiling, research released by Barclaycard ahead of the tenth anniversary of the launch of contactless payments in the UK reveals... More
Moneris study reveals 36% contactless payment increase in Canada
Moneris study reveals 36% contactless payment increase in Canada — MobileSyrup – “Moneris unveiled a 36.29% year-over-year gain, possibly due to Android Pay recently launching in Canada, and with little more than a year since Apple Pay’s full Canadian release… Within the next five and a half months Moneris predicts that 50% of all Canadian transactions will be contactless.”
Tap-and-go kills the cash cow
Tap-and-go kills the cash cow — Sydney Morning Herald – “Australia has become a nation of tappers, with official figures showing that the card has finally overtaken cash as our most-frequently-used payment method… The Reserve Bank attributes that to several factors, including the widespread rollout of tap-and-go Eftpos functionality. Around one-third of all point-of-sale payments are now made using tap-and-go.”
Mastercard and Visa lose share to UnionPay in global cards market
Mastercard and Visa lose share to UnionPay in global cards market — RBR — “The continued rapid expansion of the Chinese cards market has helped UnionPay to increase its share of cards to 43% in 2016, and extend its lead over Visa and Mastercard. UnionPay has been the largest scheme globally for card numbers since 2010 and, by the end of 2016, there were more than six billion UnionPay branded cards in circulation.”
Sub-Saharan Africa driving global market for mobile money
Sub-Saharan Africa driving global market for mobile money — GSMA — “The new study points to a decade of growth in mobile money services in the region following the launch of M-Pesa in Kenya in 2007. It notes that there are now seven markets in the region where more than 40% of adults are active mobile money users: Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.”
Debit cards overtake cash to become number one payment method in the UK
Debit cards overtake cash to become number one payment method in the UK — British Retail Consortium — “For the first time the volume of retail purchases made by card now accounts for more than half of all customer transactions, according to the BRC’s latest annual Payments Survey, released today. This has partly been driven by UK customers increasingly using cards for lower value payments.”
What’s New in Payments 2: Special report sets out the latest thinking on the future of payments — free of charge
Payments experts from the European Banking Authority, Yandex, Vodafone, Orange, Dejamobile and Wirecard are among eight contributors to What’s New in Payments: Volume Two, a 76-page special report on the future of payments which is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Survey finds consumers view contactless shopping as both ‘cool’ and ‘creepy’
A survey of consumer attitudes to emerging technologies has found that the majority of both US and European consumers now believe that using fingerprint scanning to pay for purchases is ‘cool’ — but UK and European consumers are divided on the idea of contactless shopping services like Amazon Go, with 40% considering the technology to be ‘cool’ and 31% seeing it as ‘creepy’... More
Harris Poll: PayPal leads mobile payment brands, yet up-and-comers making brand equity gains
Harris Poll: PayPal leads mobile payment brands, yet up-and-comers making brand equity gains — The Harris Poll — “PayPal — followed closely by Amazon brands — retains its Brand of the Year designation, leading mobile payment brands for the third consecutive year. However, up-and-coming brands Venmo (owned by PayPal), Square, and Apple Pay are making significant gains, according to new research from The Harris Poll’s 29th annual EquiTrend Study.”
Mastercard and Western Union explore digital model for refugee camps
Mastercard and Western Union explore digital model for refugee camps — Mastercard — “Mastercard and Western Union examined the needs, challenges and opportunities for refugees and their host communities at two settlement camps in northwestern Kenya. The findings have led to the development of Smart Communities: Using Digital Technology to Create Sustainable Refugee Economies, a blueprint that would combine digital access to remittances, banking, education, healthcare and other basic needs.”
Retailers to lose $71 billion in card-not-present fraud over the next five years
Retailers to lose $71 billion in card-not-present fraud over the next five years — Juniper Research — “The research predicted that three key battlegrounds would emerge in the fight against fraud in 2018. It cited machine learning as a key tool in identifying genuine users, while the shift to mobile ecommerce would rely on 3DS 2.0 and biometrics.”
US consumers turn to digital payments for online purchases
More than 70% of online shoppers across the US have used digital payment services including mobile wallets, one-click checkout buttons and peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps, research released by American Express reveals, with 41% “always or sometimes” choosing to use digital solutions when they pay... More