Contactless payments

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.

Trust in biometrics solves the major obstacle to even wider contactless adoption: contactless spending limits, says Fingerprints' Christian Frederickson.

Mass transit usage cratered during the coronavirus pandemic, but there’s signs of recovery based on how people are paying for their fares.

Derek Webster, founder and CEO of the mobile point of sale provider CardFlight, talks with Daniel Wolfe, editor-in-chief of PaymentsSource, about the data CardFlight collects on small-business spending, which it updates every week during the coronavirus pandemic.

G4S Plc has entered talks with workers over a plan to slash jobs at its U.K. cash-handling business as COVID-19 spurs consumers to use other forms of contactless payment.

It is no longer a matter of whether a business should be modifying their infrastructures to support these new in-store and online purchasing behaviors, but when and, most importantly, how quickly, says Fattmerchant CEO Suneera Madhani.

Contactless and mobile payments have surged, but there will still be countries and markets that stick to cash, says PPRO's James Booth.

The technology addresses both security and hygiene concerns, says Fingerprints' Lina Andolf-Orup.

To truly bridge the gap for moving small-dollar transactions to mobile and contactless, vast areas of the retail industry will need to adapt to accept cashless transactions.

Whether they take the form of a mobile wallet or a touch-free credit card, contactless payments are poised to take off as consumers — wary of using terminals and ATMs or handing cards back and forth — change their habits.