03 Dec UAE Retailers Are Going For Contactless Payments

Almost 90% of consumers have denied paying and receiving cash from merchants. Instead, they prefer new stores which are offering and accepting contactless payments. Today’s customers fear getting in direct contact with the cash because of the risk of getting infected with COVID-19. Thus, many of the retailers have offered to accept cashless payments in the UAE.

The shift in Consumers Behavior:

Contactless payments for merchants have become a new normal, as most of consumers appreciate cashless payments. The reason can be that consumers’ behavior has got shifted after the COVID-19 pandemic broke in. According to the chief executive of the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection sector at Dubai Economy, Mohammed Ali Rashed Lootah, studies have shown that consumers have got their mindsets and behaviors shifted. Thus, they are more into online shopping with contactless payment, or you can say ‘Digital payment.’ Well, this is something which is confined only during a pandemic. Instead, customers will carry on preferring contactless payments in the UAE as their primary measure to protect against any possible infection.

UAE shoppers preferring cashless payments over cash purchases:

• According to a survey by Dubai Police, Dubai Economy, and Visa, UAE shoppers have ditched cash payments because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents to the survey have said that they have reduced their in-store shopping because of the epidemic.
• Forty-nine percent of UAE shoppers prefer online shopping with the cashless payment since the pandemic started. 
• Even when the customers shop from the store, 71 percent use cashless payments in the UAE. Out of these, the majority ( almost 54 percent) are using contactless cards. Simultaneously, the rest of UAE shoppers (46 percent) are using the mobile wallet to pay for the goodies they have purchased.
• For those respondents who were shopping online for quite a while, almost 61 percent of them were using contactless payments or using mobile wallets rather than cash on delivery (COD).

Forty-three percent of consumers mentioned in the survey said that they believe in continuing to use contactless payments more in-store even after the pandemic, and 48 percent responded that they would keep on to opt more for paying online with card or digital wallet over COD.·        Cybercrime has proven to be a significant issue to tackle with, which has been promin5 during the corona virus crisis. According to the survey report, up to 53 percent of respondents were comfortable sharing personal data with banks, telecom operators, and government-owned entities. Name, demographic data, and contact information were cited as data that needs to be significantly protected.

· While 63 percent find biometrics methods more secure and 55 percent biometrics method is more comfortable to use. Sixty percent have their trust in paying with mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.