There’s a lot to like about mobile NFC payments. They can prevent identity theft by giving stores alias card numbers, they’re faster than chip readers, and most importantly right now, you don’t have to physically touch the payment terminal. That last bit is probably why contactless payments have jumped 40%, according to financial services company Mastercard.
“We are seeing an increase in the use of contactless transactions”
“We are seeing an increase in the use of contactless transactions, and we think this trend will continue after the pandemic,” Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga said in the company’s Q1 earnings call. He added that the trend was driven by people “looking for a quick way to get in and out of stores without exchanging cash, touching terminals, or anything else.”
It’s worth noting that the statistic includes both mobile payment platforms, like Google/Samsung/Apple Pay, as well as the NFC chips embedded directly in newer cards. Regardless, maybe this will push some of the remaining holdouts against contactless payments (like Walmart) to change their minds.
