Contactless Credit Card Usage Grows, Survey Suggests Bright Future

Contactless
Credit Card Usage Grows, Survey Suggests Bright Future
MasterCard issued a press release last week touting the results
of its PayPass contactless payment technology in retailers where
it is accepted. At the same time, a new survey reinforced the
message by reporting that over half of all respondents were
willing to use contactless cards to buy gas, fast food, groceries,
and other frequent purchases.

MasterCard
reported nearly 10 million PayPass cards and devices on the
market and approximately 32,000 merchant locations around the
world that accept PayPass, including McDonald’s, 7 Eleven, CVS,
pro football and baseball stadiums, and more. Looking at consumer
card usage data from a major but unnamed issuer of PayPass-enabled
cards, MasterCard reported a 36% increase in overall card usage
and a 45% increase in total transactions compared to the same
period in 2005.

A
230% increase in usage at PayPass merchants and a 270% increase
in the number of transactions at PayPass merchants was also
reported, although it’s hard to say whether this reflects a
greater desire to use the card at PayPass merchants or simply
the greater availability of such merchants versus the prior
year.

Dovetailing
with MasterCard’s announcement was the survey by Ipsos Insight
and Peppercoin, in which Ipsos translated its survey results
to mean that 100 million Americans are willing to go contactless
if the opportunity exists. Younger respondents and higher-income
respondents were most likely to view contactless payments favorably,
while those who would shun the cards say security is their biggest
concern.