According to a new survey by Samsung, Brits have become accustomed to a new ‘low touch’ world of retail in embracing the digitalisation of payments.
With 46% of Brits stating they were more willing to pay digitally at the peak of the 2020 lockdown, as shops reopened with more stringent health and safety measures, an even greater shift occurred towards more low contact, mobile forms of payment.
Dramatically, double the amount of people as last year now prefer to use their payment card through their mobile wallet, and 90% of people agreed that using a smartphone or smartwatch to make contactless payments during the pandemic was more convenient and, ofcourse, hygienic.
Nearly half of those polled, as part of the research by Samsung, agreed that they would happily no longer receive plastic payment cards from their bank.
Teg Dosanjh, Director of Connected Services and Technology, Samsung UK and Ireland, commented on the findings: “This shift is indicative of the way customers are migrating towards mobile payments as confidence and convenience grows in more digital forms of transaction.
“The reality is retail looks and feels different these days, and customers are savvy about ways to keep themselves safe in store whilst speeding up transactions at the till. Mobile payments can offer added benefits in terms of cashback and rewards.”
Dosanjh added: “Payment doesn’t need to be one dimensional anymore. We’re a nation of tech savvy spenders and want the flexibility of being able to pay however, and whenever we choose. The power to pay really is in the customer’s hands now.”
Environmental concerns could further explain the shift to online payments with a fifth of people feeling that using smart devices to pay will be better for the environment and one in four seeing it as more convenient than carrying physical cards.
