Public finally warming to contactless?

As part of its contactless push, Barclaycard has asked behavioural psychologist Donna Dawson to explain the public's conservatism when it comes to new technologies and its fondness for cash. “There are connected issues at work – habit and fear. We’ve been using coins since 600BC, which is a tough habit to break. Because of this, different ways to pay have the shock of the ‘new’, and if we have no experience of something, we fear it. Increased recognition leads to a significant trend developing, and represents the breakthrough of a psychological barrier. So the fact that we’re witnessing this with a technology which is only five years old compared to centuries of cash is remarkable," she says.

Good point about cash, but given the considerable time and resources put into hyping and selling contactless, is the progress made thus far remarkable? This week Barclaycard announced that there are now over one million contactless transactions a month taking place. The company also issued research demonstrating that consumers are increasingly being won around. Populus polled 2,026 UK adults on behalf of Barclaycard during early August. Over 80 per cent of those surveyed – almost double the figure from a year ago – were able to identify the contactless symbol, with people in London and the North West the quickest to adopt this way of paying. Sixty one per cent said they preferred using cards over cash to buy items up to £20.

If I were writing a school report, I wouldn't put remarkable. Perhaps: Good but must do better. B-.