Contactless payments

PaymentsSource Senior Analyst Michael Moeser interviews Visa's global head of contactless payments, Dan Sanford, about the factors causing a sharp rise in the use of contactless cards and mobile wallets across the globe.

The seemingly positive embrace of contactless payments raises important questions about how we can safeguard access to cash, especially for the most vulnerable members of society, says Moorwand's Luc Geuriane.

It took years for NFC payments to gather momentum in the U.S., with merchants initially dragging their heels to enable contactless technology at payment terminals and banks waiting until 2018 to begin the slow rollout of NFC-enabled cards.

Most consumers globally have changed the way they pay to avoid coronavirus risk, and almost half say they’re using cash less often since the pandemic began, according to a study from Visa.

With its acquisition of Montreal-based Mobeewave, Apple has placed a long-term bet on where it sees the payments industry headed.

The coronavirus outbreak has caused economic activity to crater, and Visa says its focus on services, partnerships and e-commerce has provided stability and a route to growth.

Digital wallets arguably reached a tipping point this spring when contactless payments jumped 40% in response to concerns that cash and payment terminals were helping to spread the coronavirus, Vidya Peters of Marqeta writes.

Digital wallets arguably reached a tipping point this spring when contactless payments jumped 40% in response to concerns that cash and payment terminals were helping to spread the coronavirus, says Marqeta's Vidya Peters.

Vending machines for years have been gradually shifting to contactless payments, but coronavirus has sparked changes in the machines’ core technology to enable hygienic use with social distancing.

The coronavirus pandemic has cast a shadow over the use of cash, which is often perceived as dirty because it frequently changes hands and is almost never washed.