Financial leaders in business and government expect contactless cards and digital wallets to continue growing in popularity over the next two years, with many believing that offering newer payment options will be a differentiator for their operations, according to a new survey by U.S. Bank. The survey found that 51% of respondents are expanding their digital payment options at their organizations. At the same time, 47% percent are boosting spending on contactless devices. More than a third of respondents said their organizations are reevaluating their current payment-processing relationships.
Nearly half (47%) of retail sector executives expect buy-now, pay-later methods to become mainstream in two years, according to the survey. A majority of healthcare executives (65%) are exploring ways to expand payment acceptance by accepting PayPal, Zelle and Venmo as well as increasing access to patient financing. Six in 10 restaurant respondents said they are seeing increased requests from diners to use alternative payment methods such as cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer payments and mobile wallets. A small percentage of lodging industry respondents (10%) are starting to see the possibility of offering BNPL to guests in the next couple of years. Most government sector respondents (78%) said they expect to see a dramatic increase in the use of contactless cards at the state and local levels in the next two years.
