MasterCard PayPass continues to gain momentum
MANILA, Philippines - MasterCard continues to up the ante in contactless payments in the region with MasterCard PayPass.
MasterCard announced that for the quarter ending March 31, there was a 49 percent growth in the number of MasterCard PayPass cards or devices in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa compared to the same period last year.
MasterCard PayPass was launched in the Asia-Pacific in 2004 with a trial in Japan in collaboration with Orient Corp. Since then, the solution has been piloted or launched in 12 other markets in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Since its launch in the region in 2004, PayPass has been adding ease and convenience to everyday payment transactions by speeding up the transaction time.
MasterCard-commissioned research conducted by KRC Research in 2007 shows that two-thirds of respondents (65 percent) use less cash than they did five years ago, and only one-fifth (21 percent) of consumers are willing to wait in line to pay for items worth less than $25.
Contactless cards have caught on in the region, too, with the same research showing that 65 percent of consumers in South Korea, 62 percent in New Zealand and 60 percent in Australia, saying they were likely to use contactless payment cards.
Consumer preferences and satisfaction from using contactless payments have contributed to the growth of PayPass.
The PayPass Benchmark Study conducted by MasterCard in 2008 showed that 94 percent of PayPass users are “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their cards, and 77 percent of those who are aware of the PayPass functionality in their card use it as their primary card.
