- Main reasons for using mobile payments by consumers are convenience, simplicity, and speed
- More than 30 percent of cardholders started using mobile payments during Covid19
- Personal experience with payment options is the key driver for adopting new methods
Belgrade, April 6, 2021 – Almost a quarter of consumers in Serbia use smartphones to pay and perform transactions, while 41 percent of all respondents is interested in using this payment option in the future. Regional research[1] conducted by Visa shows growing awareness among Serbian citizens about the need to apply modern technologies, revealing also significant space to improve innovative options for contactless payments on the merchant side. More than 30 percent of respondents started using smartphones to tap to pay during the pandemic. Around 70 percent of the respondents indicated that their personal experience with various payment methods influenced their choice of payment method. Respondents cite convenience (65 percent), simplicity (44 percent) and speed (37 percent), to be the greatest benefits of mobile payments or, in other words, the ability to leave their traditional wallet home. About 45 percent of all the survey participants believe using a smartphone to tap to pay is safe. However, almost a third of consumers state the lack of technology's acceptance is a disadvantage, indicating the number of places where such payments are possible is limited.
When asked to list all the goods and services respondents are willing to pay with their smartphones, monthly bills and parking services are on top of the list (51 percent), while theater, cinema and public transport tickets come as the second ranked (43 percent). Third in line are payments in stores, cafes, and restaurants (39 percent), followed by food ordering (38 percent). The big-ticket purchases for travel arrangements or furniture are something that 36 percent of the respondents is very much interested in, while 26 percent of the respondents would pay for cars via mobile payments.
„We believe that mobile payments will soon become part of everyone's daily routine in the SEE region as they offer convenience, speed and security due to innovative methods of authentication via fingerprint and face ID. It takes time to accept new technological solutions, but mobile payments should be looked at as a new form factor enabled by the development of technology in a similar manner like contactless cards when they were first introduced. Given the familiarity and use of contactless technology in all countries of the region, we feel that the acceptance of mobile payments may go at an even higher speed.", said Vladimir Djordjevic, General Manager of Visa for Southeast Europe.
When it comes to the region, where the survey was conducted, North Macedonia leads in terms of accepting mobile payments - 36 percent of consumers use this option while conducting daily transactions. Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina mark equally good result as Serbia, with 26 percent and 24 percent of users tapping to pay with mobile phone, while in Albania it is only 10 percent of the respondents.
Despite different habits, research indicates that customers from the region show willingness to adopt modern technologies whether those are payment or authentication methods and to try out new smartphone features.
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[1] Visa Regional Research "I choose digital" on perception of mobile payments is conducted on 2,250 card holders in Serbia, Bosna and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania in February and March 2021.