If NFC payment is gradually becoming part of French customs, the adoption of this new method of payment is not as rapid as with our European neighbours.
For many, contactless payment, whether made with their bank card or from their smartphone, has become a reflex. However, a study has shown that its adoption is not as obvious for all French people.
Continuous progress, boosted by the health crisis
The company SumUp, which sells mobile payment terminals for merchants, has carried out a comprehensive study on the subject which tells us several things.
In 2022, 68% of French people say they regularly use contactless payment, an increase of 3% in one year. The health crisis in 2020, as well as the raising of the payment limit, from 30 to 50 euros, visibly encouraged more and more customers to pay for their purchases without inserting their bank card into the payment terminal.
The Île-de-France and Hauts-de-France regions are the ones with the highest adoption rate, 76.9% of respondents say they often use this method of payment. The Pays de la Loire, Brittany and the Centre-Val de Loire region follow in the ranking.
Growth was nevertheless very strong in other regions, such as Brittany (+8.9%), Corsica (+6.9%) and Normandy (+6.3%).
Adoption still slow, and an average basket down in 2022
However, this good momentum is not as strong as that of our neighbours. In the UK, 90% of respondents say they use contactless payment. In Switzerland, 85% have adopted the NFC regulation, compared to 78% in Italy. Only Germany is behind France with an adoption rate of “only” 67%.
The average basket, studied among restaurateurs, is also down by 2.6% with an amount of 28.3 euros in 2022. It was 29.1 euros in 2021. At the national level, all sectors of activity combined, the average basket fell by 3.8%. Pays de la Loire and Hauts-de-France are the regions where the average amount spent falls most heavily. This can be explained by inflation which has put under pressure the purchasing power of the French who no longer prefer to multiply small expenses.
Source: SumUp study
45