Survey: Consumers say businesses without 'tap-to-pay' feel outdated
Cellular tap-to-pay is becoming the default method for a growing number of consumers.
A quarter (25%) of American adults leave their wallet at home either deliberately or without thinking, with just 11% saying they no longer feel they need it because they can pay with their phone, according to a new survey from cryptocurrency payment app Oobit.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents have walked away from a purchase because the merchant didn't accept tap-to-pay. Almost half (44%) say a no-tap business feels outdated, while 49% say losing their phone would be worse than losing their wallet,
More than a third (35%) expect the physical wallet to be obsolete or mostly replaced within five years.
Younger consumers are especially fond of tap-to-pay. More than two-in-five (41%) Gen Z consumers treat their phone or smartwatch as their primary payment method. This is compared to a quarter (25%) of American adults nationally.
"The wallet isn't disappearing because someone designed it that way. It's because the phone has gotten good enough,” said Amram Adar, CEO of Oobit. “Crypto is in a similar spot now. The infrastructure exists. The job left is making it feel like everything else people already do at checkout."
[READ MORE: Navigating the changing landscape of crypto ATMs in retail]
Additional highlights from the survey include the following:
- More than one-in-six (17%) American adults have memorized their full credit card number, and a quarter (25%) say it has caused them to spend more.
- More than a quarter (26%) of American adults own cryptocurrency but don't carry it in a payment card. A majority (85%) of American crypto owners say at least one incentive would convince them to add a crypto-funded payment method.
- Incentives include cash back or rewards paid in crypto (26%), auto-conversion to dollars at checkout (22%), lower transaction fees than current cards (21%), seamless integration with their current wallet (17%), and the ability to spend crypto at regular merchants (17%).
- Just over one-in-10 (12%) American adults have ever paid with crypto at an in-store checkout, whether through a card or directly.
Oobit’s survey was conducted via CloudResearch Connect on 1,000 American adults about their payment habits, attitudes toward the physical wallet, cryptocurrency ownership, and views on crypto-funded payment methods.
