Contactless payments witnessed a 6x growth in the last 3 years: Visa and Worldline India Whitepaper

Contactless will fuel the digital payments ecosystem by offering more convenient and secure solutions to consumers and merchants across segments.

Contactless payments saw a tremendous surge in recent years, their contribution to total face-to-face (F2F) transactions growing by more than 6x - from <2.5% in December 2018 to 16% in December 2021. This mode of less-touch payments in stores ensured consumer safety, a necessity since the pandemic. Additionally, the adoption of EMV chip cards has been pivotal for the growth of contactless payments, aided by supportive regulations that increased the contactless limit in India to Rs. 5,000 in 2021. The cohesive experience of contactless payments, with their inherent convenience, speed, and enhanced security features are a major reason for rapid adoption by consumers, merchants, issuers, and payment processors.

Key highlights from the contactless payments’ whitepaper:

• Highest adoption of contactless payments was observed in sectors like Quick Service Restaurants, pharmacies, food, grocery, etc., which accelerated with the impact of the pandemic
• According to Worldline India, while 25% of all transactions at supermarkets were contactless in January 2020, these transactions rose to 31% by January 2022
• The user footprint across India also stepped up with metro cities leading the way
• In 2020 and 2021, Delhi NCR, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Telangana had the highest proportion of contactless transactions and penetration, across both debit and credit cards
• Worldline India Digital Payments Report 2021 has shown that while cards contribute to 26% of all digital transactions, they generate 53% of the value of all digital commerce.

Commenting on the whitepaper findings, Ramakrishnan Gopalan, Vice President, Head of Products and Solutions, for India and South Asia, Visa said “The rapid adoption of contactless payments in the past few years is testament to the rise in acceptance of safer and faster forms of cashless payments across consumer segments. We have observed that the key drivers of contactless growth – availability, convenience, utility, and security – will continue to aid adoption at scale as contactless cards become ubiquitous. We are confident that it is a sustainable payment solution for seamless face-to-face transactions and will help greatly in reaching the goal of a less-cash society.”

At the launch, Sunil Rongala, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Innovation and Analytics, Worldline India said, “As contactless payment methods have shifted from a choice to a necessity in recent times, backed with multiplying volumes of transactions in the last three years, we see immense potential in contactless further helping digitize the merchant ecosystem. Coupled with the increasing merchant acceptance of contactless cards we are seeing not only in metro cities but in non-metro cities as well, we anticipate contactless payments to be a key driver of digital payments in the future.”

Through the pandemic, contactless payments recovered faster than other forms of face-to-face payment due to greater consumer ease and safety. Wider adoption of contactless payments will be an essential component in building smarter payments infrastructure and smarter cities. Contactless payments also result in repeat purchases and customer stickiness, and financial inclusion through cards, a familiar instrument to most consumers today.

ABOUT VISA

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.

ABOUT WORLDLINE

Worldline [Euronext: WLN] is a global leader in the payments industry and the technology partner of choice for merchants, banks, and acquirers. Powered by 20,000 employees in more than 50 countries, Worldline provides its clients with sustainable, trusted, and innovative solutions fostering their growth. Services offered by Worldline include instore and online commercial acquiring, highly secure payment transaction processing and numerous digital services. In 2021, Worldline generated a proforma revenue close to 4 billion euros.

Worldline India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Worldline, is partner to over 40 banks and over 5000 marque clients comprising of ecommerce giants, leading insurance players, D2C players across sectors. In India, Worldline covers the whole payment value chain and end-to-end processes that facilitate services to over 1.5 million merchants across 5000 towns and cities in India, South Asia / Middle East. Services offered by Worldline in India are in the areas of Merchant Acquiring, VAS, Card Issuance, National Electronic Toll Collection, Risk Mitigation, Reconciliation, Loyalty solutions; and online solutions like NextGen Payment Gateway, Subscription Payments, Payment Orchestration Platform, Online Cross Border Solution, Tokenisation among others. Supported by over 2000 members team, Worldline India is constantly investing in its people and in the latest technologies to increase efficiencies, drive innovation and enhance digital payments adoption across the country.

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