The new research published by Payments Europe showed that 75% of European merchants and businesses currently prefer digital payments over cash. At the same time, it was shown that 72% of traders in the same region prefer to accept cards over other payment options and methods.
The `Safety, Convenience and Choice: The True Value of Cards` was based on a survey made with 1,560 merchants and traders who are working in physical and online retail. The survey took place in multiple regions across Europe, including France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, and Poland.
The report underscores the accelerated manner in which the payments market is evolving across the continent, with ever-escalating competition among multiple providers, as well as new products and solutions being launched and becoming available for customers across Europe.
In the process of choosing between several payment methods, safety and security represented the main priorities for merchants and traders. This is followed by client preferences and needs, reach, costs, and merchants' convenience. According to the survey, when asked to compare different transaction and payment options available on the market, businesses ranked cards as the highest because they met the listed needs and expectations best. Furthermore, 67% of traders believed the cost of cards has dropped or stayed stable in the last couple of years, as 87% also believed that the value of cards outweighs their costs.
The overall research reveals that merchants welcome the diversification of payments across the entire ecosystem, as the industry aims for security and improvement, and cardholders benefit from an optimised experience and the possibility to choose the services that meet their preferences the best.
In addition, the report reveals that businesses need to embed their demands for digital solutions into their development processes, as they drive successful outcomes, especially in the cases of SMEs. According to officials of Payments Europe, as 99.8% of all businesses in the EU are small and medium-sized enterprises, the procedure of developing an all-encompassing payment acceptance strategy in order to drive revenue represents a priority in the process of improving the development of Europe’s payment ecosystem.
The `Safety, Convenience and Choice: The True Value of Cards` is available to download and read on Payments Europe’s website, with an in-depth view of the overall survey data, charts, and information.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now