Apple Pay allows contactless payments to avoid the spread of germs. Image credit: Apple
Use of mobile or contactless payments is on the rise as weary consumers avoid touching common surfaces, per new research from the National Retail Federation and Forrester. The State of Retail Payments study found that more than two-thirds of retailers, 67 percent, now accept some form of no-touch payment. Nearly seven in 10 retailers report no-touch payments having increased since January. “While mobile payments and contactless cards have accounted for a minority of payments in the past, the pandemic has clearly driven consumers to change their behavior and retailers to accelerate their adoption of the technology,” said Leon Buck, vice president for government relations, banking and financial services at NRF, in a statement. “Touchless payment methods are an important part of ensuring the health of retail workers and consumers but they do raise concerns about the security of payments and the fees charged to merchants to process transactions.” Contactless payments The State of Retail Payments study is conducted for NRF every other year by Forrester. Contactless payments, whether they are complete by waving or tapping a card on a reader or mobile wallet payments, have increased from last year. Contactless card payments are more common than mobile wallet payments, at a rate of 58 to 56 percent. Ninety-four percent of retailers expect contactless payments to increase over the next 18 months. Almost 20 percent said no-touch payments accounted for more than half of their in-store transactions this year.
Alipay makes it easier to pay through mobile devices. Image credit: Alipay