Goodbye credit cards: smartphone payments increase popularity

An increasing number of Australians are ditching their wallets at the checkout and opting more and more for smartphone payments, according to research from Commonwealth Bank.

The rate of Commonwealth Bank (CBA) customers using their smartphones to make payments has grown 35 per cent in the past six months.

The number of CBA tap and pay transactions has reached 16.8 million in the six months to June 2018; another nail in the coffin for cash.

CBA research found:

• Major supermarkets account for one in every five tap & pay transactions, and 1 in 10 take place at major fast food chains and petrol stations. Major retailers account for 1 in every 20 transactions
• Men make up the majority (75 per cent) of digital wallet customers
• Half of digital wallet users are aged between 20 – 29 years old and around one third are 30 – 39 years old; and
• The average number of monthly transactions per user is 13 and the average dollar value per transaction is around $25.

Michael Baumann, CBA’s acting Executive General Manager, Everyday Banking, said that by enabling Visa across the suite of CommBank supported digital wallets “we are combining choice and convenience for more customers.”

“Since 2013, our customers have been able to use their smartphones to make payments.

“By extending the suite of CBA supported digital wallets to our Visa cardholders, we’re providing our customers with even more options to make a payment at the point of sale, whether that be through the CommBank app or their smartwatch,” said Mr Baumann.

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