One quarter (26%) of British shoppers expect to start using contactless payments with a smartwatch, bracelet, keyring or other forms of wearable payments, according to new figures from Mastercard.
In the UK, contactless spend on Mastercard grew by 139% in the last year, and the huge success of contactless has seen many Brits willing to explore new ways to pay. The figures come as the Netherlands embarks on a wearable payments trial for Dutch bank ABN AMRO. Alongside this continued growth, barriers to using contactless have also decreased. Concerns around fraud see the greatest decrease in the UK (-31%), building trust in Mastercard contactless technology.
Banks across Europe are also working with Mastercard to deliver this new wave in contactless payments. ABN AMRO is one of the first banks to enable worldwide payments with a wearable that's linked to a current account, with a pilot for 500 customers of different age groups, who will be experiencing what it's like to make contactless payments with a ring, watch, bracelet or keyring.
Mastercard continues to work with retailers to help meet expectations surrounding wearable payments, with 42% growth in the number of retail locations accepting contactless across Europe. In the UK, 36% of all in-store transactions are contactless. The Netherlands provides an ideal test bed for wearable payments because 80% of terminals in the country already accept contactless payments. More than 50% of payments in the Netherlands are also made with contactless according to ABN AMRO.