Digitalization cannot be prescribed – but the benefits and convenience also convince Swiss people when paying.
It is well known that Swiss consumers prefer debit and credit cards when paying. However, paying with a smartphone or wearable without a physical card is a little more convenient, as there is no need to fumble for the right card. In addition, your smartphone is always with you – even if you leave your wallet with your cards at home.
Do Swiss people also use smartphones to pay? Visa asked and summarized the results in a representative study.
Convenience beats habit – even when paying
Swiss consumers are increasingly paying with their smartphones. This is proven by the third edition of the Swiss Visa Payment Monitor, which took a close look at the payment habits of the Swiss.
Almost four out of ten Swiss people (37%) now pay by placing their mobile phone or wearable at the checkout. Two years ago the proportion was 25 percent.
The astonishing leap forward is likely to be related to some related digitalization drivers that influence consumer habits and behavior. On the one hand, people have become accustomed to managing their banking transactions with mobile banking via smartphone. Or: Twint, as the most successful mobile payment app, has so far led well over 5 million people in Switzerland to use their smartphones to make payments or for other “things with money”.
These and other pioneers help to take the short step from the physical card to the smartphone or wearable. Consequently, the smartphone is also at the forefront when it comes to handling money.
Why do Swiss people use digital payment methods?
Almost three quarters (72%) of those surveyed now prefer to use digital payment methods. Why? It is particularly important to them that payment is quick (59%) and that they have a good overview of their expenses (53%).
Impact on retail: 27 percent of all German-speaking Swiss actively avoid shops where they cannot pay digitally – in French-speaking Switzerland it is 34 percent and in Ticino even 37 percent (Switzerland: 29%).
Although nine out of ten consumers (91%) now say they pay contactless, digital payments will not yet work everywhere in 2023. One in three of those surveyed (36%) find themselves unable to pay with a card, smartphone, etc. at least once a month. The most frequently mentioned spots where digital payment options are missing include weekly and Christmas markets (20% and 17%) and small shops (17%).
Addressing small retailers, it can be said that Twint, Sumup and other providers offer numerous payment solutions that can perfectly close this digital gap, especially for small or mobile businesses.
The generation gap in payment behavior is disappearing
All generations now prefer a smartphone to a wallet. Compared to previous editions of the study, it can be seen that those over 60 are clearly catching up when it comes to contactless mobile payments. One in four (25%) of them have already made mobile payments, a significant increase compared to the previous year (+14 percentage points).
The younger generation of those under 36 is also continuing to grow here. Of them, more than half have now paid using a smartphone or wearable at the store checkout (52%), an increase of 8 percentage points compared to 2022.
If they had to choose between a smartphone or a wallet, more people over 60 would now choose a cell phone (49%) than a wallet (47%). Accordingly, among the Swiss population as a whole, smartphones (59%) are ahead of wallets (38%) for the first time.
Mobile payment is becoming a matter of course
Overall, seven out of ten people in Switzerland (72%) say they shop online using mobile devices, an increase of 7 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Also interesting: More than half (52%) also send money via app to family members, acquaintances or friends within Switzerland at least once a month. However, one in two people (50%) would like a solution that allows them to send money to close people abroad directly via the app. These apps have been around for a long time, but there seems to be a gap in knowledge and information that Wise and other providers have yet to fill.
Don’t be afraid to store payment data digitally – but more convenience is required
Two thirds (67%) of consumers have now saved their credit cards digitally. With the introduction of modern debit cards, which can now also be used to pay online, 59 percent are already storing their debit card in digital form. Card data is particularly often stored in payment apps (66%), online shops (33%) and streaming services (29%).
Concerns about storing payment data that once existed have largely disappeared. On the other hand, more and more people are becoming annoyed, which is why they have to re-enter their card details every time they make a purchase or in every other online shop. This has little to do with convenience; three out of ten consumers want a central solution that eliminates this annoying detour.
Banking apps replace checking your wallet when checking expenses
For a long time, many people have considered having cash in their wallet as the best way to keep their spending under control. Here too, e- and m-banking have apparently changed people’s habits and behavior.
In order to keep an eye on daily expenses, digital payment methods (65%) are now preferred. Cash only offers the best spending control for 29 percent of those surveyed. Last year it was 35 percent. 66 percent prefer to use their banking app to keep an overview of their finances. Half (51%) see paper account statements as no longer appropriate, but 43 percent continue to use them.
What digital innovations do consumers expect in the future?
Looking to the future, consumers expect further digitalization of everyday finance and payments. 72 percent believe that it will become standard to pay at self-service checkouts in brick-and-mortar stores. 39 percent of those surveyed already use such cash registers when they are available.
More than half (56%) also believe that in five years it will be commonplace to order purchases in advance and just pick them up at the supermarket. In addition, 46 percent of those surveyed expect that super apps that combine different applications such as shopping, online banking and messaging services will become established.
Consumer expectations at a glance:
2024-01-07 22:53:02
#smartphone #forefront #handling #money
