JCB has found yet more evidence of the growing popularity of contactless payment technologies. The company’s data shows that year-over-year JCB contactless card usage was up 30 percent as of July 2020. The number of organizations that support contactless payments has similarly climbed at a phenomenal pace, with year-over-year adoption rates jumping 83 percent between 2017 and 2018, 69 percent between 2018 and 2019, and an additional 25 percent before the end of 2020.
The findings come courtesy of a new JCB white paper titled “Payment Perspectives and Future-Gazing,” which details some of the challenges facing organizations in the payments sector. It also explores the ways in which customer expectations are changing, particularly as they relate to e-commerce. JCB noted that spending with top online retailers outside of Japan was up 15 percent year-over-year in February, with major 2019 peaks in January, July, and December.
JCB went on to argue that recent events could accelerate those trends, and that the payments industry should use the opportunity to push forward instead of reverting to old habits. In that regard, JCB is the latest company to observe the transformative impact of COVID-19.
“The payment industry is fulfilling an important role in the economic recovery, and it is essential to find ways to diversify the way in which we meet customer needs alongside our partners,” said JCB Europe Managing Director Tsuyoshi Notani. “There are now many options for people to pay for goods and services and preferences vary region to region and country to country. There is a marvellous opportunity for businesses to innovate and create engaging shopping experiences, but it does mean payment networks need to keep one step ahead by utilising market intelligence and providing fresh solutions to meet customer needs.”
JCB currently provides services for more than 140 cardmembers in 24 countries and territories around the world. The company’s biometric cards received two CEPI awards in 2019, and it has since released a separate Tap on Mobile solution to enable contactless smartphone payments.
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