Discover the 2022 ABI Research NFC Consumer Experience Survey Results presented by Phil Sealy and Andrew Zignani, of ABI Research. The goal of the survey was to provide a greater understanding of consumer adoption, familiarity, and experiences with Near-Field Communication (NFC)/contactless technology at both a global and regional level.

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ABI Research
NFC Survey Results
Andrew Zignani and Phil Sealy
Research Directors
JUNE 2022
Consumer Attitudes,
Experiences, and
Understanding of
NFC Technology

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© 2022 ABI Research
Introduction and Methodology 2022
Survey Overview
 The goal of the survey was to provide a greater understanding of consumer adoption, familiarity, and experiences
with Near-Field Communication (NFC)/contactless technology at both a global and regional level. The survey takes
into account the COVID-19 impact after significant efforts were placed on contactless migration strategies and
increasing contactless spending limits. The survey’s first question asked respondents if they had used a
contactless payment card or mobile wallet, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, among others.
 For those respondents who had not used either of these options, the survey was terminated. This meant that only
respondents who have used contactless technology were included in the survey results.
 The survey had 2,620 respondents across the following countries and regions, covering a variety of age ranges.
Age Ranges
 18 to 24: 366 (14%)
 25 to 34: 787 (30%)
 35 to 44: 804 (30%)
 45 to 54: 429 (16%)
 55 to 64: 173 (7%)
 65 to 74: 41 (2%)
 75 and over: 20 (1%)
Countries
 United States: 509
 China: 505
 Japan: 504
 South Korea: 505
 United Kingdom: 124
 Spain: 116
 France: 121
 Germany: 118
 Italy: 118

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© 2021 ABI Research
Executive Summary 2022
Key Findings and Takeaways
 Contactless payment card usage still continues to exceed that of mobile NFC wallets; however,
mobile payment wallet usage has grown considerably.
 However, contactless payment card remains the preferred solution when compared to mobile and
smartwatch alternatives.
 The majority of respondents have been using their contactless mobile payment wallet for less than 2
years.
 Overall user experience is extremely high, though issues remain.
 Key issues include multiple attempts to respond, error messages, and speed of response.
 The security message remains clear, and the majority of respondents are confident (at some level)
with the security or perceived security that contactless cards/mobile wallets provide.
 Familiarity with NFC technology continues to grow, with all but a small percentage of respondents at
least somewhat familiar with NFC as a technology.
 Public transportation and consumer product interaction are the main use cases beyond payments.

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© 2022 ABI Research
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
Contactless
payment card
(e.g. Credit,
Debit Card)
Apple Pay Google Pay Samsung Pay Other (Please
specify)
Huawei Pay LG Pay
No.
of
Respondents
NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS BY PAYMENT PLATFORM
Q1. Which of the following contactless/tap-to-pay
card or mobile payment wallet solutions have you
used?
 The survey was terminated if the respondent had not
used any of these contactless or mobile payment
methods.
 The respondents could select more than one payment
method, e.g., contactless and Apple Pay, so the total is
higher than 100%.
 70% of respondents have used a contactless payment
card
 63% have used Apple Pay
 43% have used Google Pay
 42% have used Samsung Pay
 16% have used Huawei Pay
 9% have used LG pay
 19% have used others, including Kakao Pay, LINE Pay,
PayPal, Amazon Pay, Rakuten Pay, UnionPay, LINE
Pay, and others
 TAKEAWAYS: With the exception of Huawei Pay and
LG Pay, increases across all contactless form-factors
have been recorded. The contactless payment card
remains the most used form-factor with 16% more
respondents having used a contactless card when
compared to 2020 survey results. Apple Pay and
Samsung Pay also recorded usage growth of 17% and
11% respectively.
Payment Methods
2022

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© 2022 ABI Research
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Multiple times per
week
Nearly every day Multiple times per
month
Daily Rarely Never
No.
of
Respondents
FREQUENCY OF PAYMENT CARD/MOBILE WALLET USAGE
Q2: How often do you use your contactless
payment card/mobile payment wallet to make a
contactless payment?
 15% of respondents use it daily
 33% use it nearly every day
 35% use it multiple times per week
 17% use it multiple times per month
 1% use it rarely
TAKEAWAYS:
 Usage frequency levels very similar to that
recorded in 2020 survey
 Over three-quarters of respondents use their
contactless payment card/mobile payment
wallet multiple times per week or more
 47% use their card or mobile payment wallet
daily or nearly every day
 99% of respondents use their payment
card/mobile payment wallet several times per
month or more often
Card/Wallet Usage
2022

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© 2022 ABI Research
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
Contactless Payment Card Smartphone Mobile Payment
Wallet
Smartwatch Mobile Payment
Wallet
No.
of
Respondents
PREFERRED CONTACTLESS PAYMENT SOLUTION
Q3. What is your preferred contactless payment solution?
Preferred Solutions 2022
 Respondents were asked to rank their
preferred contactless payment solution
between contactless payment card,
smartphone mobile payment wallet, and
smartwatch mobile payment wallet
 53% of respondents ranked contactless
payment card as their number one
preference
 33% ranked smartphone mobile payment
wallet as their preferred solution
 14% ranked smartwatch as their preferred
solution
 TAKEAWAY: Contactless payment card
remains the preferred solution when
compared to mobile and smartwatch
alternatives.

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© 2022 ABI Research
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
45.00%
50.00%
Less than a year Less than 2 years Less than 3 years 3 years or more
LENGTH OF USE
Q5. How long have you been using a contactless mobile payment
wallet for?
 61% of respondents have been using their
contactless mobile payment wallet for less
than 2 years, with 18% of these having use it
for less than 1 year
 Only 9% of respondents have been using it for
3 years or more
 91% of respondents have been using a
contactless mobile wallet for less than 3 years
 TAKEAWAYS: This likely reflects the
accelerated adoption of contactless solutions
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Length of Use 2022

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© 2022 ABI Research
39%
37%
16%
9%
FREQUENCY OF ISSUES WHEN USING CONTACTLESS TECHNOLOGY
Never
Rarely
Occasionally
Frequently
Q7: Have you ever experienced any issues while using a
contactless payment card/mobile payment wallet?
 9% of respondents reported having issues
frequently with contactless payments cards or
mobile wallets
 16% have reported occasional issues
 37% have reported rarely having an issue
 39% have never had an issue
TAKEAWAYS
 61% of respondents have experienced issues
while using a contactless payment card or mobile
payment wallet
 Frequent issues with contactless technology are
impacting user satisfaction and more must be
done to improve the user experience
 The results related to issues are extremely aligned
with 2020 results demonstrating that there was
little to no movement achieved in addressing
problems
 Overall user experience is extremely high, with
75% of respondents either rarely or never
experiencing issues
Issues 2022

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© 2022 ABI Research
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Multiple
attempts to
respond
Error
message
Slow to
respond
Awkward to
use
Did not
respond
Finding where
to tap was
challenging
Retailer does
not accept
contactless
payment
Never had an
issue
Other –
please specify
%
of
Respondents
with
Issue
TYPES OF ISSUE
Q8: What are the issues you have faced when making a
contactless payment with a mobile payment wallet?
 The main reported issue was multiple attempts
to respond with 38% of respondents, followed
by an error message (25%), slow to respond
(23%), awkward to use (18%), did not respond
(17%), finding where to tap (13%) and retailer
not accepting contactless (10%)
TAKEAWAYS
 The top three issues show there are still
potential problems with readers in terms of
response times and speed
 Retailer not accepting was relatively low down
the list (unsurprising given pandemic) but still
remains a problem—this will likely dissipate as
contactless rollouts continue
 The majority of the issues are NFC/app related
and not related to retailers and/or infrastructure.
Types of Issue 2022

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© 2022 ABI Research
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
Very confident Confident Somewhat confident Not that confident Not confident at all
No.
of
Respondents
SAFETY AND SECURITY PERCEPTIONS
Q9: How confident are you in the safety and security of contactless
payment cards/mobile payment wallets?
Safety and Security 2022
 51% of respondents are confident
 24% of respondents are somewhat confident
 20% of respondents are very confident
 7% are not that confident
 2% are not confident at all
TAKEAWAYS:
 Only 9% of respondents are not confident in the
safety and security of contactless payment cards and
mobile payment wallets
 More than two-thirds are confident or very confident
in the security (71%)
 91% are at least somewhat confident
 The vast majority of respondents remain confident (at
some level) with the security or perceived security
that contactless cards/mobile wallets provide
 However, security confidence has retracted 3% when
compared to 2020 results. This is to be somewhat
expected as more users are exposed to contactless
payment methods

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© 2022 ABI Research
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Very familiar Familiar Somewhat familiar Not that familiar Not at all familiar
FAMILIARITY WITH NFC
Q10: How familiar would you consider yourself with NFC (Near-
field communication) contactless technology?
Familiarity with NFC
2022
 42% of respondents regard themselves familiar
with NFC technology
 28% somewhat familiar
 25% very familiar
 4% not that familiar
 <1% not at all familiar
TAKEAWAYS:
 95% of respondents at least somewhat familiar
with NFC technology
 Over 2/3 (67%) respondents are familiar or very
familiar with NFC technology
 Only 5% of NFC users are still not familiar with
the technology
 Familiarity with NFC as a technology has
significantly increased, aligned with increased
exposure to mobile wallets and higher user
rates

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© 2022 ABI Research
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Paying
for
a
product
Paying
for
public
transportation
Tapping
consumer
products
Tapping
to
unlock
the
door
of
a
vehicle
Tapping
to
gain
access
to
an
event
/
stadium/
venue
Tapping
to
enter
the
home
or
office
Tapping
appliances
to
control
them
Tapping
headphones
or
speakers
to
pair
them
with
your
smartphone
Tapping
posters
or
menus
to
get
more
information
or
place
an
order
Other
(please
specify)
OTHER USE CASES
Q11: Have you ever used the NFC contactless technology in your
smartphone or smartwatch for any of the following?
Other Use Cases 2022
 95% of respondents have used contactless technology for
paying for a product
 48% have used it for paying for public transport
 38% have used it for consumer product interaction
 15% have used it for vehicle access
 14% have used it for venue access
 13% have used it for home or office access
 11% have used it for appliance control
 10% have used it for headphone / speaker pairing
 8% have used it to tap posters or menus
TAKEAWAYS:
 Beyond mobile payments, public transportation is a key
driver for contactless use cases
 Tapping consumer products is also becoming increasingly
important, with over 1/3 of respondents having leveraged
NFC to interact with some form of consumer product, e.g.,
clothing, alcohol, luxury items
 Some percentages such as automotive, venue entry, and
home office access seem high, it is very possible that
“contactless” technology is taking the credit for non-NFC
applications and that clearer messaging is needed on the
specific capabilities of NFC
11 others, including tapping to access
computer, share photos and videos

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© 2021 ABI Research
Conclusion and Future Expectations 2022
 Frequency of usage is expected to increase as the world enters the post COVID era.
 Exposure to contactless payments will continue to increase and accelerate as the contactless card fast becomes the standard card form-
factor issued.
 Issuers (both traditional and neo/challenger banks) placing emphasis on digital first approaches will further accelerate mobile wallet usage,
as the paradigm shifts from physical first to digital first card implementations.
 Contactless limits continue to be increased, paving the way for transaction limits to be abolished in the mid to longer term.
 NFC security perception remains strong and should continue to be message reinforced as security concerns related to card transactions at
higher values can be eliminated via mobile wallets and multi-factor authentication processes. This demonstrates a clear link from an end
user perception between NFC controller and secure element functionality. For end users, NFC controllers and secure elements are one and
the same.
 Usage for ticketing will continue to increase as more transportation authorities look towards EMV/open loop acceptance.
 The user experience issues reported demonstrate that users are facing issues with NFC technology and further investigation is required to
determine if issues are being driven on the device or supporting infrastructure side.
 NFC will become more widely adopted outside of payments, as leading wallet providers look towards new application enablement to expand
their respective wallet use cases and increase wallet reliance.

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Andrew Zignani and Phil Sealy