eMarketer: 14% of US credit card users have contactless bank cards

Contactless cards are credit or debit cards with a near field communication (NFC) chip that can be tapped on a reader to complete transactions. The United States was relatively late to the introduction of contactless cards, but they have begun to gain popularity in the United States because most point-of-sale (POS) systems have NFC capabilities that can read these cards. According to a July 2019 study by CreditCards.com and YouGov, 14% of U.S. credit card users surveyed own a contactless card and have used it to make payments.

In Canada, France and the UK, where contactless cards were introduced early, their popularity has hindered the growth of mobile payments. This is largely because contactless cards appeared before mobile payments such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Consumers are less inclined to switch to another newer system.

Contactless bank cards have prompted most major retailers to update their payment systems to include NFC readers. It has also prompted transit systems, such as New York’s subway system, to begin testing contactless payments. Figures from transit systems show that 80% of revenue comes from mobile wallets.

In the UK, these changes led to a massive shift to contactless credit cards, while in the US, these changes came after mobile payment platforms had already been introduced. As a result, the lack of compatible POS systems has made mobile payment adoption less of an issue. It’s a much more level playing field between contactless credit cards and mobile payment systems.

Greater acceptance of these systems by retailers and consumers has fueled the recent growth in mobile payments, which eMarketer predicts will account for 30.6% of U.S. smartphone users in 2020, or nearly 70 million people.

This is still a relatively small number, but as contactless transportation and shopping options increase, eMarketer expects this number to continue to show healthy growth in 2020 and beyond.

199IT.com Originally compiled from: eMarketer. Please do not reprint without authorization