Boom in tap and go

More Aussie shoppers are heading to the checkout with digital wallets in hand,

THE number of customers making payments using a smartphone or smartwatch is surging as the desire to pay with cash or card declines.

Consumers are switching to different payment methods, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay, to tap and go at the checkout.

New data from the Commonwealth Bank has found the number of customers reaching for their smartphones to pay is rising, reaching 16.8 million for the six months to June this year – an increase of 35 per cent.

And the bank has now extended these payment options to allow its Visa users to use their devices to pay.

Previously only CBA Mastercard customers could use the tap and pay technology.

CBA’s acting executive general manager of everyday banking, Michael Baumann, said for many consumers it was “more convenient to use a phone than a card”.

“The tap and pay functionality is used particularly at major supermarkets and is one in every five tap and pay transactions that we are conducting,” he said.

“Another 10 per cent take place at major fast food chains and another 10 per cent at petrol stations.”

But customers continue to voice their frustrations at lenders who have not rolled out Apple Pay, with ANZ the only Big Four bank that offers it.

Instead, CBA provides Apple users with a PayTag – a small sticker about a third of the size of a credit card – which can be attached to the back of an iPhone, allowing customers to tap and pay using their device.

All the big banks offer Samsung Pay.

Latest ANZ statistics show a similar trend in the surge of mobile payments, including the use of compatible smartwatches, such as Garmin and Fitbit, allowing customers to tap and go.

Their data shows, from October 2016 to August 2017, customers made more than 22.49 million transactions totalling $702 million using these payment methods .

But this more than doubled from October 2017 to August 2018 to include more than 57 million transactions worth $1.83 billion.

ANZ’s customer engagement lead, Kath Bray, said customers wanted to be able to make transactions easily and safely.

“Mobile payments also offer an increased level of security with biometrics, like a thumbprint, required to authorise a payment in many cases,” Ms Bray said.

The latest data from strategic relations firm RFi shows 11 per cent of smartphone users in June this year used a mobile wallet, compared with 9 per cent in 2016.