There have been several items in the papers recently
reporting problems with contactless payments. The prominence given these
reports seems somewhat out of proportion to the number of actual complaints.
Shoppers at Marks and Spencer have complained that the retailer’s contactless
payment system has taken money from their accounts without their permission.
Sources have revealed that the company has received five complaints of payments
being made unintentionally since the technology began being rolled out last
year. Pret a Manger also said it was investigating similar claims after a customer
reported paying with a card that was more than 11 inches away from the reader.
Ok so it’s worth having a look at this as it is probably an awareness issue but
5 complaints at M&S and 1 at Pret is hardly worthy of newspaper headlines
questioning the safety of contactless.
As it was launched in 2007 and has yet to become mainstream
any education that has been provided to cardholders and more significantly
retail staff was probably some time ago and given lack of usage will have been
forgotten. However, awareness of contactless mobile payment points and symbols
amongst consumers has more than doubled from 15% to 39% in twelve months, a
recent report has revealed. According to the latest Mobile Payment Index the
use of contactless mobile payments from those that have the technology enabled
on their mobile device is also on the rise. 53% have used their mobile devices
to make a contactless payment purchase, compared to 47% this time in 2012. Spending
via mobile NFC technology has also grown considerably in the past year. In May
2012, results indicated that contactless mobile payment users were, on average,
spending £6.76 per transaction. However, this figure has now increased to
£26.84 as confidence in technology steadily grows.
So come on retailers remind your staff of how to operate
contactless payments and what to look out for in customer behaviour because now
may be the time to do it.
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