Shutterstock
News Digital Banking
90% of Nordic consumers use contactless payments
Half of Swedes say they never even pay with cash anymore
Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway are leading the world with the adoption of cashless and mobile payment methods, with nine-in-every-ten Nordic consumers using contactless payments.
Denmark is the clear contactless leader, with 96 per cent of Danish consumers using contactless and 94 per cent of card payments being made contactlessly, according to research from payments firm Nexi Group.
Meanwhile Swedish consumers take the lead as the most pro-digital payments in general, with 50 per cent of Swedes never paying with cash.
The data for the research comes from a combination of Nexi’s own payment data for the four countries, along with an annual survey of at least 1,000 consumers from each market.
“We’ve carried physical wallets for centuries,” Lars Erik Tellmann, chief regional officer for Nexi in the Nordics said, “taking cash, cards, receipts, and photos of loved ones with us everywhere.”
“Nowadays, Nordic consumers want to use their mobile phone as this wallet, carrying the same things with them but in digital form. Contactless provides a seamless and secure payment experience for consumers, while facilitating newer payment methods like SoftPOS, which are set to transform physical commerce experiences in the coming years.”
While Finland is the ‘laggard’ of the quartet, with only 10 per cent of the population outright rejecting cash, that figure is rapidly accelerating according to Nexi’s research.
From 1 January the country will also be raising the contactless payment limit without requiring PIN to €50, which should further increase adoption and the move away from cash.
