MasterCard: APAC consumers warming up to contactless card payments

Enterprise

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More consumers are tapping contactless cards at payment terminals across the Asia-Pacific region, especially in developed markets such as Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong.

If MasterCard’s figures released today are any indicator, the number of unique contactless card users (or tappers) in the region grew by 49 per cent last year.

Australia led the way, with contactless payments comprising nearly two-thirds of all MasterCard in-store transactions. MasterCard Australia also recorded a 45 per cent growth in unique tappers between 2013 and 2014.

In Singapore, the number of MasterCard contactless payment users more than doubled in 2014 as compared to 2013.

Hong Kong has also seen the benefit of a strong marketing push with the growth of contactless transactions more than quadrupling in 2014, according to MasterCard.

“The rapid growth in contactless and mobile payments is expected to continue, given there is just so much cash that needs to be displaced in the region,” said Raj Dhamodharan, MasterCard’s group head of emerging payments in Asia-Pacific.

In developing markets, MasterCard sees the adoption of mobile payment terminals as a key driver in boosting the number of contactless payments.

Throughout 2014, the payments technology company worked with banks and telcos in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines to roll out mobile payment terminals to small businesses.

According to Annapolis Consulting Group, the number of mobile payment terminals worldwide is estimated to grow from 8 million in 2013 to 18 million in 2017.