Consumers show strong appetite for biometric payment cards, Fingerprints finds

Fingerprints global survey has found strong consumer appetite for biometric payment cards, with 51% ready to switch bank for one.

Consumers have continued to move away from using cash (22%), and the bank card is now the dominant way consumers make in-store payments (73%), with very few claiming to use mobile wallets (2%).

On average, one in two are using their contactless card as the main method when paying in stores. France (60%) and the UK (57%) are the countries with the highest penetration, but contactless has also gained adoption in the famously cash-heavy Germany (38%). The contactless card is also used frequently, with over three quarters (77%) using it at least weekly.

The majority of consumers (63%) think they will use contactless cards even more in future. Mobile payments will likely grow too but is a polarized method, with one in four thinking they will use it more than today, but 32% still think they won’t make mobile payments at all in-store in future. There are some differences across markets and segments, but the overall picture remains consistent that consumer usage and fondness for contactless cards is here to stay. 

The main reason for consumers’ affection for the card is trust - it is easy to use (78%), it works everywhere (70%), it is secure (68%) – and of course, it can work as a complement to the smartphone, especially for online payments.

Half of all consumers want a biometric payment card, with a further quarter being open to it. In fact, they want it so much that over half (51%) would switch bank if they could have one. In Australia and the UK, the interest is even higher, with over six in ten willing to switch bank. And, among the 18-35-year-olds, the willingness to switch is the highest (66%), followed by those with higher income (61%).

Beyond this, a significant proportion (43%) would also be willing to pay extra to have the fingerprint feature on their card. This differs across segments, with younger demographics wanting it to a higher degree (55%) and willing to pay for it (61%). Among the consumers that use their contactless cards regularly, 62% want it to be biometric and almost half would be willing to pay for it (49%).