U.S. Market Ready for Contactless Cards

For retailers, contactless cards would speed up transactions and improve customer loyalty.

July 25, 2018

CHICAGO – While U.S. consumers still pay in cash 26% of the time, contactless payments have become robust for high-transaction-volume retailers with low average rings where convenience and speed of checkout are of utmost importance—such as at QSRs and convenience stores, the PaymentsJournal reports.

A new global study by A.T. Kearney found that contactless cards could push the number of transactions per card higher. In the United States, A.T. Kearney predicted that at least 70% of all consumer transactions will be card-based by 2022, compared with 62% in 2017.

Contactless cards give merchants a way to offer speedier service, more sales volume during peak time, less time and funds spent on handling/processing cash, and greater customer loyalty. Because of the Europay, MasterCard and Visa contact chip migration, most U.S. retailers already have the infrastructure in place to process contactless payments. The A.T. Kearney study predicted that contactless cards usage will accelerate through 2020.

“It is a myth that U.S. consumers and merchants are not ready for contactless,” said Monica Gabel, who headed the research for A.T. Kearney. “Our readiness metrics suggest that the time to promote contactless adoption is now.”

More retailers, including Cumberland Farms, are embracing mobile payment apps, while more restaurants have stopped accepting cash payments.

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