The use of contactless payments has increased since consumers are worried about touching surfaces amid the pandemic

Touchless payments across US to increase by nearly 70%: survey. Source: shutterstock.com

According to the survey, 67% of US retailers now accept some form of no-touch payment. That includes 58% that accept contactless cards, up from 40% in 2019 and 56% that take digital wallet payments, compared to 44%.

Besides, many retailers allow clients to pay online or over the phone and then pick up merchandise in-store or at curbside. That eliminates the need to touch card readers, sign for transactions, or enter a PIN.

Among retailers that had launched contactless payments, 94% expect this growth to continue over the next 18 months. Meanwhile, 19% of the respondents said no-touch accounted for more than half of their in-store transactions and 30% said it was 10% or less.

The report has also found that 19% of consumers made a digital payment in a store for the first time this May. 62% of them used their phone whereas 56% used a contactless card.

As a result, 67% said they were satisfied with the experience while 57% would likely continue once the pandemic has subsided.

As to the major concerns, 67% of the retailers are worried about higher costs, including fees for processing transactions. For 65%, cybersecurity and data privacy risks became the second major concern. 63% and 61% of the respondents are worried about increased fraud and increased chargebacks of disputed purchases, respectively.

We’ve reported that out of $4.4 trillion transaction value in digital payments this year, China and the US are expected to generate 65% of that value.

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