A new campaign has launched to encourage retailers to ‘Switch On’ to the benefits of contactless payments. The Switch On website, www.switchonnz.co.nz, profiles Kiwi businesses talking about how contactless technology is making a real difference to their businesses.
Kiwi consumers are already switched on to the benefits of contactless technology, with a recent Mastercard survey of over 1000 New Zealanders finding almost three quarters of Kiwis are using contactless. The survey found more than half of Kiwis use contactless technology at least once a week, up 12% on last year, as the technology becomes increasingly part of everyday use.
“People are increasingly using contactless when making day-to-day purchases. More consumers are choosing contactless payments as their first option, and this demand is encouraging retailers to make the technology more widely available,” said Peter Chisnall, country manager for New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
While consumers are using the technology, 38 per cent of New Zealanders think retailers need to do more to embrace new payment innovations. A third of respondents said they get frustrated when retailers do not have contactless technology enabled.
“For retailers, the benefits aren’t just faster queues, reduced cash handling and more efficiently serving customers, but also paving the way for emerging payment methods like mobile payments and biometrics that will soon become mainstream in New Zealand,” said Chisnall.
Switch On profiles a range of Kiwi businesses in a number of industries about how contactless technology is helping them day-to-day to provide great customer service, convenience and choice.
“Contactless payments mean that, on average, every transaction at Z is now seven seconds faster,” said Tim Dryburgh, asset manager. “At peak times, when you’re under pressure and there are queues forming, that’s a significant amount of time saved across the huge number of customers that shop with us. Contactless is ideal for businesses that have a short window of time to make transactions or those who have a large number of transactions, like Z.”
Shane Howell, chief product officer at Westpac, agrees. “The benefits of contactless for retailers will only continue to increase as more consumers embrace the technology. Each day more New Zealand businesses are contacting their bank to switch on contactless, so they can provide the options their customers want to ensure their ongoing business success in a more digital society.”
Retailers are encouraged to find out how contactless technology can help their business, and challenge some common misconceptions around contactless acceptance at switchonnz.co.nz
