Filipinos show interest in contactless payment methods - report

According to a recent study from Visa, entitled “The Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 2014” and highlighting the growing trend of payment card usage across Asia-Pacific markets, contactless payment technologies have penetrated the Philippines, with 7 out of 10 consumers aware of existing contactless payment methods.

The Visa Study also tackled consumers’ interest and concerns in using innovative payment technologies such as Visa payWave cards and new form factors such as NFC-enabled smartphones and payment stickers, which allow consumers to pay for their transactions without needing to swipe their payment cards.

The Visa Study reveals that Filipino consumers are highly aware of contactless payment solutions (62%), but only 2 out of 10 have actually used contactless payment cards to pay for their transactions. This is due to the widespread misunderstanding of how contactless payment technology works.

The reports ass that although the security technology of contactless payment solutions are in the cutting edge, consumers are still worried about fraudulent use of lost cards (83%) and being billed accidentally for transactions (78%). This leads to the country falling behind neighbours in Singapore in adopting contactless payment technologies, where 87% of respondents are aware of the technology and 55% have used it.

However, the research indicates that Filipino consumers still remain positively inclined towards contactless payment cards. In fact, the study adds, the majority of Filipino consumers (80%) would avail themselves of a contactless payment card if it was made optional by their banks. Among these respondents, Filipino working adults, between the ages of 24 to 44, show the most interest in using contactless payment methods such as Visa payWave.

The Visa Study further reveals that Filipinos are more eager to use newer payment form factors, such as contactless-enabled payment stickers (71%) and smartphones (77%)—as opposed to the plastic card format we are familiar with—compared to Singaporeans (60% and 63%, respectively).

Filipinos also show strong preference (78%) for shops that accept contactless payments over ones that do not, showing appetite to incorporate contactless payments into everyday life.

More than 2,000 respondents from Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand were surveyed on their spending behaviours throughout the region.