More than half of Irish consumers using contactless payments

Life

Brian Cleary, general manager, BOI Payment Acceptance

Irish consumers have taken to contactless payments, as a new survey has found that more than of us are now using the new payment method.

According to the survey by Amárach Research of 1,000 consumers, for BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), some 54% of debit and credit card owners use contactless payment when paying for goods and services.

Furthermore, nearly half (45%) are using contactless payments multiple times a week.

There was a significant jump in usage when the transaction limit was raised to €30, but of those surveyed, 42% wanted an increase in that limit.

The survey found the average contactless payment is just €11.33, with the top five items bought being food and groceries (75%), fuel (23%), alcohol (21%), clothes and shoes (21%) and newspapers and magazines (17%).

Time saving was the biggest advantage to using contactless payment, with 58% saying it was ‘quick,’ while other advantages cited were safety, lower bank charges and the convenience of not having to carry cash or go to an ATM.

The age demographics were unsurprising, with 25 to 44 year olds being the highest users, but indications are that usage is also growing in the older age categories.

The contactless facility is twice as common among debit cards as credit cards, with 88% of users owning a debit card versus 43% owning a credit card.

Those aged between 35 and 44 are most likely to own a debit card (91%) while those aged over 55 are most likely to own a credit card (59%).

According to Brian Cleary, general manager, BOI Payment Acceptance, “consumers have been very quick to adopt the technology and recognise its ease of use.”

“Despite almost 40% of those surveyed claiming not to carry a contactless card, in reality approximately 90% of all debit cards in Ireland are now contactless,” said Cleary. “This suggests one of the key steps in growing contactless payments is to raise consumer awareness of the technology and its benefits.

“Currently over 35,000 Irish businesses offer contactless payment facilities and contactless is very quickly becoming the norm for consumers and business alike.  Over the next five years we expect to see an accelerated reduction in cash transactions as businesses realise the clear advantages of contactless, namely the ability to process more transactions, benefit from reduced cash handling costs and a lesser exposure to theft and misappropriation of cash,” said Cleary.

TechCentral Reporters