Does your business accept contactless payments? If not, you could be turning away customers.
Contactless Payments: The Latest Evolution in Payment Technology
Contactless payment is just the latest evolution in how consumers use technology to pay for retail purchases. In-person card payment first appeared with the introduction of the first Diners Club charge card way back in 1950. BankAmericard (now known as Visa) launched its first charge card in 1958, followed by the Master Charge (MasterCard) card in 1968. The first electronic point-of-sale (POS) terminal was launched by Visa in 1979, and chip cards were first introduced in 1993.
It took almost two decades for app-based payment to come to market, with the introduction of Google Wallet in 2011 and Apple Pay in 2014. The first NFC-enabled contactless cards were introduced by Visa in 2018.
Consumers Love Contactless Payments
Today, an increasing number of consumers are choosing to pay with mobile apps or NFC-enabled credit and debit cards (also known as contactless cards). According to a recent MasterCard survey, more than half of all Americans (51%) say they use some form of contactless payment.
Interestingly, the percentage of consumers using contactless payment varies somewhat by type of purchase. MasterCard details the following usage of contactless payments:
- Grocery: 85%
- Pharmacy: 39%
- Retail: 38%
- Quick service restaurants and fast food: 36%
Contactless Payments to Continue to Increase
According to Juniper Research’s Contactless Payments Market Data 2025-2030 report, contactless payments will account for $8.75 trillion dollars in revenue worldwide in 2025. That number is expected to more than double over the next five years, reaching $18.1 trillion by 2030.
Much of this increase comes from consumers replacing cash payments with payment via phone-based payment apps, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung pay. Also important, although less so, are consumers using NFC-enabled contactless cards.
Do You Accept Contactless Payments?
As you can see, it’s important for all types of businesses to accept contactless payments. If you don’t yet accept contactless payment, you could be turning away customers who want to pay with their phones or contactless cards.
Contactless payment is too important for your business to ignore. If you want to learn more about contactless payment and how you can set it up for your business, contact the experts at Higher Standards today. Our Expert Advisors can answer all your questions and help you obtain the right equipment and service plans to accept contactless payment in your business.
Call us at 952-736-1700 or email us at hsi@higherstandards.net to learn more about how your business can add contactless payments to better serve your customers.