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Barclays says that over 80% of the British public now recognize the symbol for contactless payments when displayed at retail outlets. The bank has been running contactless payment trials for several years, and these payments now account for more than 1 million transactions per month.
According to bank’s research, 61% of people prefer using cards over cash to buy items up to 20 GBP. Security remains a hurdle for the adoption of contactless payments, with customers perceiving that the technology isn’t safe. Heck, 75% of respondents didn’t know that contactless payment (like all card payments) are insured against fraud. However, when told that this was the case, over 40% said they would be more inclined to use the technology with fewer than one in ten still having concerns.
Donna Dawson, a behavioral psychologist commented on these findings: “There are connected issues at work – habit and fear. We’ve been using coins since 600BC, which is a tough habit to break. Because of this, different ways to pay have the shock of the ‘new’, and if we have no experience of something, we fear it. Increased recognition leads to a significant trend developing, and represents the breakthrough of a psychological barrier. So the fact that we’re witnessing this with a technology which is only five years old compared to centuries of cash is remarkable.”
[Via: CellularNews]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
