US consumers turn to contactless payments during uncertainty
During February and March, as much of the country imposed necessary guidelines on social distancing, a majority of consumers turned to contactless Tap & Go™ payments for essential purchases. People are modifying the way they pay and the safety and cleanliness of contactless payments are key drivers. Consumer polling by Mastercard, paints an insightful picture of this accelerated and sustained contactless adoption.
51%
of US consumers say they are now using contactless payments [1]
In the US, contactless transactions grew 3X as fast as non-contactless transactions in the grocery and drug store categories between February and March 2020 [2]
Contactless Payment Cements Positive Perceptions Versus Cash in the US
77%
View contactless as the cleaner way to pay [1]
31%
Moved contactless cards to top of wallet [1]
56%
State they will continue to use contactless payment post-pandemic [1]
Resources for our partners
Mastercard supports partners in multiple aspects of this contactless evolution. Click below to learn more.
Issuance
Explore the ease and benefits of providing consumers contactless cards
Acceptance
Enabling contactless at point of sale to improve customer experience
Optimization
Launch, manage and optimize contactless payments across card portfolios
[1] Source: Consumer Polling Data; online interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 US consumers conducted April 10-12, 2020
[2] Growth calculated as the percentage increase in contactless transactions compared to the percentage increase in non-contactless transactions, comparing March 2020 to February 2020, at Grocery and Pharmacy categories. Source: Mastercard Data Warehouse ©2020 Mastercard. All rights reserved.
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