There are few moments like now where American consumers are collectively open to the idea of new payment methods \u2013 especially contactless ones such as mobile wallets. This is good news for businesses since mobile wallets offer a safer payment alternative to credit cards and drastically reduce customer wait times at checkout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mobile wallets (such as Apple Pay and PayPal) use authentication, monitoring and data encryption to secure and transmit personal information, and the level of security associated with them has payment card issuers backing their use. This is certainly helping drive consumer adoption, as does convenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, global mobile wallet transaction value is estimated to reach nearly $14 trillion by 20201<\/sup> \u2013 and that is a pre-COVID-19 estimate. New estimates are higher and point to further rapid adoption given the current need for touch-free payment options. According to a recently published Visa Back to Business report<\/a>,* 70 percent of consumers surveyed in June 2020 have used a new shopping or payment method for the first time this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A rapid shift has begun and the numbers tell the story<\/strong>So what is holding back business adoption of mobile wallets? Until recently, it just wasn\u2019t a priority for many small- and medium-size businesses to enable it or educate their employees on its use. The lack of preferential demand didn\u2019t make it a pressing topic. But that is changing. Consider this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s not just what lies ahead that SMBs should be focused on now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Visa\u2019s Back to Business report, shoppers are now putting COVID-19 safety measures at the top of their shopping lists and they will reward stores that do the same. In fact, if all other factors were equal (price, selection, location), nearly 63 percent of consumers surveyed would switch to a new store that installed contactless payment options, such as mobile wallets.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n What does this mean for you? Now is the time to connect with customers to make sure they are fully contactless capable and have the technology in place to accept many of the most popular mobile wallets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>Payments Industry Intelligence, \u201cThe rise of digital and mobile wallet: Global usage statistics from 2018,\u201d November 25, 2018. There are few moments like now where American consumers are collectively open to the idea of new payment methods \u2013<\/p>\n\n
2<\/sup>Forbes, January 2020
3<\/sup>Visa Back to Business report 2020<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"