Almost 40% of Spaniards say they use mobile payments to pay for their purchases.
This is revealed by the second edition of the Study of mobile payment trends in Spain, developed by the Spanish FinTech Pecunpay in collaboration with Visa.
According to this report, this figure is 3 percentage points higher than the previous year, confirming the upward trend in the use of this payment method in our country.
Of the preferred methods of payment, debit and credit cards stand out in first place, with 57.8%. In second place is cash, with 23%, and in third place mobile payments with 17%, almost two points higher than the previous year.
Speed and ease of use drive mobile payments
Paying with a mobile phone has become an increasingly common gesture, both because of the speed and ease of use smartphones offer when it comes to paying for purchases or services.
According to this study, almost half of the mobile payment users surveyed – 49.4% – prefer to pay for their purchases via mobile phone because it is a quick system.
Simplicity and the possibility of better control over spending are the positive qualities highlighted by users in second and third place respectively.
Given that the mobile phone is pervasive in everyday payments – with 55% of mobile payment users confessing to using it
for their everyday purchases – the amounts usually do not exceed €50.
According to the report, 80% of transactions are below this figure, in line with last year’s figures.
In terms of products and services, more than half (50.7%) of the purchases made by those who use mobile payments are for food products, according to the study.
On the other hand, and in a year of gradual recovery of hospitality and leisure, marked by the reopening and relaxation of restrictions, almost a third of mobile payments went to this sector, according to respondents.
“Digitalisation in payments has grown at a faster pace than expected, partly due to the pandemic situation we have experienced in recent years,” comments Antonio García Cruz, CEO of Pecunpay.
“In addition, we see how dual authentication processes have led to a much more secure and reliable environment, even though they have been detrimental to the user experience in payment.”
“It is true that the mobile phone is gradually gaining ground as a payment device, but I am convinced that in the coming years we will see more connected devices that will allow consumers to make payments quickly, easily, securely and without the physical card,” continues Eduardo Prieto, General Manager of Visa in Spain.
“We will see the payment experience become so integrated into everyday life that the method of payment will be almost imperceptible to consumers.”
Trust and acceptance – sector’s greatest challenges
Despite the fact that systems such as tokenisation, biometrics or PIN authentication, among others, aim to prevent fraud, there is still reticence about the security of mobile payments among those surveyed, and more specifically among those who do not yet use this method, where this aspect is of greatest concern to more than a third.
And to continue to consolidate in our country, acceptance is also among the challenges for this payment method. Especially in sectors such as urban mobility, small businesses and public administration.
Almost two thirds (57.8%) of mobile payment users underline in this report that they would like to find more acceptance of this method in public transport and almost 30% of users would like to see more acceptance of this option in small businesses.
On the other hand, and to a lesser extent, they also point out the need to incorporate this payment method in public administration and in the tourism sector in order to respond to these new consumption patterns and contribute to the growth of sectors as important for the national economy as the tourism industry.
To download the report CLICK HERE
To learn more about the Spanish payments market CLICK HERE
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