• Online

3 December, 2020
17:15 - 19:00 h

  • Presentation: EN - NL
  • Slides: EN
  • Q&A: EN

Cashless Society is coming

Our society is slowly evolving towards a cashless society. Really slowly, to say the least. The last couple of months has lead to a much faster evolution than we first anticipated. What kind of trends do we see and what will be possible in payments tomorrow? 

Trends

Contactless payments 
In 2018, only 5% of all transactions in Belgium were contactless (meaning NFC cards, Mobile apps,…). In one year time, in 2019, we 'only' doubled this quantity to 10%. Since the start of the lockdown in March 2020, we discovered that this number drastically increased to 37%, the last week of november we even reached 42%! 

One of the primary reasons off course is that contactless payments is a much more hygienic method and therefore became a more preferred method during Covid times. 

Human behavior 
Another trend we witnessed was not only the the number of transactions in total increased, but also the amount per transaction has increased. We are buying more than before, but we are spending more at the same time. How can this be explained? One of the main reasons: hoarding. People tend to spend more in times of crisis. 

E-commerce 
E-commerce has boomed these last months. Shops had to close their physical doors, and saw the opportunity to start or improve their online business. 

On Black Friday we noticed an increase of 105% more payments in e-commerce than a regular friday. And when we compare the figures with Black Friday of 2019, we also see an increase of 50%. 

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Opportunities

QR 
The QR code has already entered our lives. More and more users are using this method of contactless payment through. And more & more users have different options of making payments: (nfc) debit or credit cards, banking apps, Payconiq,… 

In the future it will be possible for merchants to show a standardised QR code on a terminal or printed on paper, which a client can scan with his/her preferred payment app. 

Fun fact: Not only 'normal' currency, but also Bitcoin will be used for payments in the future. Worldline is working on this project in pilot phase in Switserland to create the possiblity to pay with Bitcoins as well.  

More than contactless payments alone
A merchant today aims for a short and convenient checkout of the client with contactless or cashless payments. But we must aspire to offer the best user experience.  

Tomorrow we want to enable merchants to offer additional services in order to create the best user experience to your clients. 

Beyond terminals: Worldline's new application!
We are evolving from terminals to mobile devices. Tomorrow, a merchant will be able to use a mobile device as a terminal. Worldline has developped a new application, allowing the merchant to determine the payment flow. This application will launch in february 2021. Watch the demo at the end of our presentation in the related tab to get a taste!

More about Worldline

Log in and watch the recording of the session, including the demo of Worldline's newest product! You can also download the presentation. You'll find both of them in our Related tab

Connect with Eric Spapens from Worldline for more information. 

Interesting reading: Sweden - the first cashless society?  

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