- 93% of consumers are considering emerging payments such as
biometrics, digital currencies, and QR code, in addition to
contactless, according to the Mastercard New Payments Index
- Now, nearly 90% of in-person transactions globally take place
at a contactless-enabled merchant 3
As the world went into pandemic lockdown in 2020, consumers
shifted their spending habits to embrace contactless tap-and-go
payments and online shopping. As stores closed and social
distancing took hold, retailers worldwide moved their businesses
online, embraced e-commerce and explored the potential of new ways
to pay. More than a year later, research from Mastercard shows that
the adoption of new payment technologies is rising, and consumer
appetite for new, fast and flexible digital experiences continues
to grow.
The Mastercard New Payments Index, conducted across 18
markets around the world, shows 93% of people will consider using
at least one emerging payment method, such as cryptocurrency,
biometrics, contactless, or QR code, in the next year. Nearly
two-thirds of respondents (63%) agree they have tried a new payment
method they would not have tried under normal circumstances, but
the pandemic has galvanized people to try flexible new payment
options to get what they want, when they want it. With this
interest and consumer demand also comes a greater expectation for
businesses to provide multiple ways to shop and pay. In fact, more
than half of consumers say they would avoid businesses that do not
accept electronic payments of any kind.
“The pandemic made us think differently, partly out of
necessity,” said Craig Vosburg, Chief Product Officer at
Mastercard. “To deliver the choice and flexibility that consumers
need – and increasingly expect –retailers worldwide need to offer a
range of payment solutions that are easy to access and always on.
As we look ahead, we need to continue to enable all choices, both
in-store and online, to shape the fabric of commerce and make the
digital economy work for everyone.”
Contactless technology was the digital catalyst to explore new
payment options because of its fast, secure and touch-free
experience. Between the first quarter of 2020 and the same period
in 2021, more than 100 markets saw contactless as a share of total
in-person transactions grow by at least 50 percent. 3 A year
into the COVID-19 pandemic, contactless is showing its staying
power and dynamism – in the first quarter of 2021 alone, Mastercard
saw 1 billion more contactless transactions as compared to the same
period of 2020, with particular momentum in emerging contactless
markets like the U.S. and Brazil, where contactless penetration in
the two markets combined grew by nearly 3x year-over-year. 3
All signs point to a continued growth path for contactless, with
nearly 7 in 10 consumers anticipating using a contactless card this
year.
Looking to the future, digital currencies, biometrics,
contactless and QR codes are trending as emerging payments
technologies as people’s comfort with them and understanding of
them increases and the use of cash decreases. In fact, 71% of
people say they expect to use cash less moving forward. The
exploding interest in new payment technologies may encourage
businesses to expand their options at checkout. The Mastercard New
Payments Index found:
- Cryptocurrency1 Gains Ground, With Millennials Primed to
Jump In – Today consumers can buy, sell, and trade
cryptocurrency as a commodity or investment. Consumers are also
increasingly showing interest in being able to spend crypto assets
for everyday purchases. As global interest in cryptocurrencies as a
payment method continues to accelerate, 4 in 10 people (40%) across
North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and
Africa, and Asia Pacific say they plan to use cryptocurrency in the
next year. Millennials globally and those in the Middle East and
Africa are especially engaged in the cryptocurrency conversation,
with more than half (67%) agreeing they are more open to using
cryptocurrency than they were a year ago. In addition, 77% of
Millennials are interested in learning more about cryptocurrency,
while 75% agree they would use cryptocurrency if they understood it
better. While consumer interest in cryptocurrency - especially
floating digital currencies such as Bitcoin - is high, work is
still required to ensure consumer choice, protection, and their
regulatory compliance.
- Biometric Payments Are More Trustworthy – Perceptions of
safety and convenience have been front and center for people over
the past year. More than half (53%) of consumers agree that
biometric checkout is secure. In fact, 6 in 10 consumers say they
are excited about the potential of biometric verification methods
such as gait or walk assessments and fingerprint authorization
(61%), and 60% feel safer using biometrics to verify a purchase
than entering a pin. Gait or walk assessments can be used to pay
based on a person’s manner of walking.
- QR Codes - A Cleaner and More Convenient Alternative to Cash
in Developing Markets – While mature markets – like the U.S. –
are focused on contactless payments, growing markets are leveraging
QR-based options as a clean and convenient way to interact with
merchants. In APAC, the majority of respondents perceive new
payment methods like QR codes to be cleaner (76%) and more
convenient (71%) than cash for in-person payments as it is likely
consumers are using their own mobile device. 66% of respondents in
Latin America and the Caribbean, and 63% in the Middle East and
Africa expect to use more payment technologies like QR in the next
year.
To Meet People’s Demands, Businesses Forced to Jump into
Emerging Payment Trends
With consumer interest around new payment technologies, the
expectation for businesses to adapt for the long-term is here to
stay. Nearly eight in 10 respondents (79%) agree that they prefer
to shop at stores that have both an in-person and online presence,
and 68% noted being more excited to shop at retailers that can
offer the latest payment methods. A recent study on 5,500 major
Mastercard merchants, showed that between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, more
than a fifth of these merchants globally increased the number of
ways they connect with consumers either by enabling an e-commerce
channel or accepting contactless transactions2. Over the
same period, Mastercard saw the total number of card-not present
transactions grow by over 30%.4
As one way to address this consumer preference for fast,
touch-free payment experiences, many merchants are turning to
contactless payments. Now, nearly 90% of in-person transactions
globally take place at a contactless-enabled merchant, and nearly
all merchant categories saw an increase in contactless transactions
as a share of total in-person transactions year-over-year in the
first quarter of 2021. 3
This behavior shift is reinforced by the desire for consumer
choice – with 84% saying that they expect to make purchases when
they want and how they want. The businesses that can provide
multiple ways to shop and pay are best positioned to meet these
expectations. As the demand for emerging payments and choice
continues, it requires a wider range of payment solutions,
insights, and products to meet the accelerating enthusiasm for the
future state of pay.
Note to Editors:
Survey Methodology:
- Online interviews of 15,569 consumers in 18 countries in four
regions worldwide
- 1,000+ respondents per country in Australia, India, Thailand,
US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria,
Kenya and South Africa
- 500+ respondents per country in Argentina, Chile, Colombia,
Peru, and Dominican Republic
- Research conducted February 26-March 10, 2021
- Nationally representative sample
- Readable sample sizes of:
- Gender
- Generation
- Affluent
- Banked
- Research conducted by The Harris Poll and Mastercard Global
Foresights, Insights and Analytics
Sources:
All respondent data provided herein is sourced from the
Mastercard New Payments Index unless otherwise indicated.
1 There is no agreed-upon terminology for the category of
digital assets that depend on cryptographic keys to access the
assets and sign transactions to initiate asset transfers. We use
the term “cryptocurrency” here to broadly describe these assets as
they are most commonly known by the general public, while
acknowledging that none currently are considered legal tender or
approved as official “currency” by any government. [1]
2 Channels considered in the analysis: chip/swipe
transactions, traditional e-commerce transactions, e-commerce
transactions through wallets, physical contactless transactions,
and mobile contactless transactions. Merchant considered to have
adopted the channel if in the quarter the merchant saw more than 1K
transactions in that channel. Source: Mastercard Data Warehouse
anonymized and aggregated transaction data. [2]
3 Growth calculated between the first quarter of 2020 and
the same period in 2021. Source: Mastercard Data Warehouse
anonymized and aggregated transaction data. [3]
4 Source: Mastercard anonymized and aggregated
transaction data. [4]
About Mastercard (NYSE:MA):
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments
industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital
economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions
safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks,
partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help
individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses
realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ,
drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our
company. With connections across more than 210 countries and
territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks
priceless possibilities for all.
www.mastercard.com
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210503005823/en/
Katie Priebe, Global Communications, Mastercard +1 (914)
707-9822 | Katie.Priebe@mastercard.com Biz Cozine, North America
Communications, Mastercard +1 (914) 414-1876 |
Biz.Cozine@mastercard.com
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