Multiple barriers have curtailed retailers’ contactless payment integration. But a pandemic may be the catalyst to widespread adoption.
At full speed reopening pace, companies have stepped up their sanitization regimens, limited the number of consumers in stores and introduced social distancing markers. But as retailers introduce worker and consumer protections, one measure hasn’t reached peak usage: contactless payments.
A combination of barriers — ranging from legacy point-of-sale systems to learning curves on the part of both consumers and businesses — have slowed the adoption of contactless payments, experts told Retail Dive. But as the coronavirus pandemic forces companies to implement protective measures, experts are divided on whether the industry will gravitate toward contactless payments. Some anticipate retailers will integrate the technology on their own to appease customers or to address cleanliness concerns during and after the pandemic. Others say it may take government regulation or card issuer consensus to push retailers toward the technology.
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