The Future of Contactless Payments



This past week I ran into a problem many people make. Forgetting their wallet (or purse) at home and needing to purchase food, gas or anything while out and about. Fortunately for me, the merchant accepted contactless payments (CPs), and I went about my day.


Often times (call me lazy) I don’t feel like pulling out my wallet, pulling out the card I want, swiping, then putting the card back and putting the wallet back in my pocket- especially when I have to do it multiple times a day. Ever since I upgraded to the Nexus 6, I find myself holding my phone instead of it being in my pocket, mostly due to its larger size. Because of this, a store or restaurant having a contactless terminal makes it that much easier for me to hover my phone and be on my way. With the use of cash transactions on the decline and credit/debit forecasted to overtake cash transactions within the next 5 years, the usefulness of CPs is ever growing.


So, to get back to the title. Why do I use it when and wherever I can? Because it’s like voting, I want my voice and vote to be heard. My transaction at McDonald’s or Walgreens is like both my voice and my vote. I know this may come off as being over-dramatized, but it is really a growing technology that has incredible uses. With each pass of my phone, I want the merchant to know that I thank them for spending the extra money to put in a terminal that accepts CPs. For many stores it’s easy to get the basic terminal with the classic card reader, but when a franchise, store, restaurant, or drug store makes the initiative to implement CP terminals, it is a thing to encourage.

With the unveiling of Apple Pay, CP transactions have skyrocketed. More and more people know about CPs, more and more people are using their phones to pay, and their money is a powerful voice that is encouraging more and more merchants to install CP terminals. With Google having their already established Google Wallet, and Samsung Pay being a rookie to the CP ecosystem, more and more users now have the tools to complete CP transactions. Although Apple Pay transactions have eclipsed both Google Wallet and Samsung Pay transactions as of this writing, both of the former systems have a bright future and endless possibilities.

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