Contactless Payments Are The Key To A Profitable Christmas

Britain’s retailers could be missing out on big Christmas trading if they are unable to offer card and contactless payments, according to research from EE.

The operator found that 80 percent of shoppers in the UK expect to be able to pay for goods using their credit or debit cards, but that a quarter have been forced to abandon transactions because they haven’t been able to pay by card.

This is equivalent to almost 13 million shoppers, showing the huge potential for profits for every business.

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The report also highlighted the growing popularity of contactless payments, as more than a quarter (28 percent) of shoppers said that they preferred using the technology due to its ease of use, with 29 percent prefer paying via contactless because it’s quicker.

Brighton was found to be the most contactless-friendly location in the UK, as customers there say they use their card for 72 percent of their transactions. York (71 percent) and Birmingham (66 percent) made up the top three, with London only coming in at the lower half of the list, with just 61 percent saying they use their card for most transactions.

In order to help more businesses prosper during the Christimas period, EE is now offering two new bundles designed to help make card payments easier to process and manage.

EE’s 4G Pop-Up bundle and Connected Retail, (the latter of which contains an iZettle Pro Contactless card reader, 4G-enabled tablet and Shopwave POS app), allow retailers to quickly and easily set up a connected system that allows them to welcome more customers than before.

“Christmas is one of the most important trading periods of the year for most small businesses, and our research shows how vital it is to offer shoppers the ability to pay by card,” said Mike Tomlinson, director of small business at EE.

“EE’s Connected Retail and Pop-Up products help small businesses to quickly and easily offer customers the ability to securely pay by card over 4G, whether in a shop or a market stall, ensuring that they’re not missing out on sales at a crucial time.”

Recent data from the UK Cards Association showed that more than £2.5 billion was spent using contactless cards in the first half of 2015.

This is a significant rise from the £2.32 billion spent using contactless over the whole of 2014, as more shops than ever before look to implement the technology across the UK.

And figures released by MasterCard showed that the amount of spending by British consumers on its contactless cards has increased more than five-fold in the last 12 months to show a 560 percent year-on-year growth.

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