A good way to understand the changes taking place around us is to look at consumer habits.
The advent of online shopping and contactless technology eventually emptied consumers' pockets of traditional notes and coins to fill them with contactless payment cards and smartphones constantly connected to the Internet with digital wallets payment methods such as MB Way, Apple Pay or Google Pay installed.
These forms of payment do not involve physical cash and are therefore called means of payment cashless.
Contactless payments contribute to a more cashless society
This is a global trend and Portugal is not left out, as can be seen by the 27 billion euros transacted in the retailer network with payment methods cashless of REDUNIQ in 2022, the highest figure in its history.
This record figure was largely due to the growth in the use of the contactless technology by consumers over the last three years.
According to REDUNIQ InsightsIn the first half of last year, the weight of the contactless payments accounted for 55% of the total turnover of businesses connected to the REDUNIQ network, 9% more than in 2021 and 30% more than in 2020.
As far as transactions are concerned, the payment of goods and services using means contactless accounted for 74% of the total, 9% more than in 2021 and 22% more than in 2020.
These figures, however, wouldn't be a reality if national retailers didn't invest in solutions for online payments e automatic payment terminals with contactless technology (Contactless TPA) from REDUNIQ, which not only allows retailers to adapt to consumers' payment habits, but also boosts sales and simplifies the company's financial management, since transaction data is recorded automatically and there is no need for complex cash management.
Contactless: what is it?
The cashless system has many players and one of them is exactly the Contactless.
Contactless literally means "contactless" and is a technology that allows, among other things, a payment to be completed by bringing a credit/debit card, a smartphone with payment apps or wearables (wristbands, smartwatches, etc.) using RFID (radio frequency identification) technology closer to a automatic payment terminalHe also contactless.
In practice, when a consumer wants to pay a bill at the supermarket using a contactless card, all they have to do is bring it close to the Contactless PIN of the retailer for the transaction to be completed without the terminal and card touching or the need to enter the card's PIN.
All this makes Contactless secure (reduces the need to carry large sums of money), fast (takes between 2 and 4 seconds to complete the payment) and simple (just bring the card close to the terminal) for both retailers and consumers.
O cashless in Portugal, as we can see, is progressing at a rapid pace and the reason for this lies in the aspects we have already mentioned: greater security, speed and simplicity.
However, there are many more advantages for consumers and retailers:
Cashless Advantages for Consumers
- more hygienic than money;
- ease and speed of payment;
- spending control (with each transaction you receive an email with the purchase details);
- security: no need to carry cash;
- shorter queues;
- better consumer experience;
Advantages of Cashless for Retailers
- greater security: the money doesn't have to be kept in cash;
- easy to close the box, as all the information is digitised;
- faster transactions and account credit;
- lower cost;
- real-time sales monitoring.
The advantages of cashless don't just affect consumers and retailers.
Because all transactions are recorded automatically, the state flags tax evasion more quickly, increasing tax revenues and reducing the possibility of money laundering, which makes theft less frequent.
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