Commonwealth Bank of Australia has recorded a surge in mobile payment transactions at the POS, as consumers reach for their phones to avoid touching PIN pads during the Coronavirus outbreak.
Latest analysis from the bank, which draws on Visa and Mastercard data, has found digital wallet users in Australia spent $1 billion in a record number of transactions in March 2020, a 17% increase from the same month last year.
Overall there were 36 million digital wallet transactions made in March - comprising spending from CBA Tap & Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay, and Garmin Pay devices - up from 33 million in February and higher than the previous monthly record of 34 million in December 2019.
Kate Crous, executive general manager of everyday banking, CBA, says: “The growth in the number of contactless purchases has been increasing since the introduction of Apple Pay last year, however it’s now evident that even more people regard it as a safe and secure way to pay in this environment.”
The data comes in the wake of a ruling by AusPayNet to raise contactless card limits from $100 to $200 to reduce the need for physical contact with the payment terminal.
Says Crous: “In the current environment, paying without cash is an important way to protect yourself and others against the spread of coronavirus. The increased contactless card limit is a fantastic step, however where possible we’re encouraging our customers to use digital wallets as they have the added safety of not needing to enter a PIN on the PIN Pad no matter how much they spend, as it instead leverages touch ID or Face ID."