Research suggests contactless is yet to catch on

ICM Research has published findings revealing that contactless payments are suffering both a lack of promotion from merchants and low usage from consumers, despite high awareness.

ICM Research has published findings revealing that contactless payments are suffering both a lack of promotion from merchants and low usage from consumers, despite high awareness.

Of those surveyed, eight out of ten knew what a contactless payment was. However, less than a third of those who had the capability used it at all and, of those who did pay with a contactless card, only 12% bought something with it ‘weekly or more often’.

High street stores were visited as part of the research and mystery shoppers found that 11 stores out of 26 offered the service and only three actively promoted it.

The research suggested that retailers needed to do more to promote contactless payment. Four in ten respondents stated that if the shops they visited most often offered contactless they would use it more.

ICM associate director Jamie Belnikoff said: "There is a huge opportunity for retailers to drive revenues by developing and implementing a successful contactless payments strategy. However, as is often the case with new technology, it takes time to catch on, and there’s work to be done to communicate the advantages of contactless payment.

ICM found that Barclays was the best known contactless brand with 49% associating Barclays with contactless payment. The figure rose to 70% for those who held accounts with the bank. More than 50% of customers of four other institutions were aware that Barclays offered the method; Halifax (53%), Co-Op (53%), First Direct (50%) and Santander (50%).