New payment methods lack consumer trust

New research shows that for all retailers efforts to install new payment methods and technology, customers are still choosing cash as a preferred way to pay. Wincor Nixdorf, the global solutions provider which conducted the research,

found that 63 percent were open to the idea of life without cash but only if the right infrastructure is put in place.

It seems that retailers haven’t quite yet managed to instill enough trust in electronic payments. Whilst new payment technologies are slowly emerging, such as contactless payment and mobile services, they need to be introduced slowly and surely.

Ed Brindley, Director of Marketing at Wincor Nixdorf, said: “Right now, the UK isn’t ready to move to a cashless society.

“The challenge for retailers and banks is therefore to find a way of managing all the various payment methods, from cash to debit and credit cards, as efficiently as possible.

“In order to adopt a cashless society, the industry needs to not only ensure the infrastructure and technology is flawless, but also convince consumers that cards offer the same benefits as cash.”

Brindley says that if managed correctly we could end up with a three-tier POS system where small purchases are made by mobile or contactless, medium-sized buys are made by cash notes, and the large acquisitions are made via cards.

“To a certain extent adoption rates are in the hands of the new technology providers and how aggressively they want to be in rolling these systems out.”