Australians love to tap and pay but some are resisting it

Australians are obsessed with using tap and go but some customers are confused about how to use their phone to pay. Find out if it’s safe to tap on the run.

Australians are a nation of tappers but many still remain confused about when and how they can use their mobile phone to pay.

The country’s biggest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, rolled out Apple Pay this month and it’s expected to result in a boom in customers grabbing using phones at the checkout.

But new research from strategic relations firm RFi found while 9 in 10 people know it’s possible to make mobile payments at supermarkets, department stores and chains, only half believe they can use their phone when paying for a cab.

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And only about 40 per cent think mobile payments could be completed at smaller retailers.

Visa’s head of digital product, Matt Wood, said many customers remained unclear on whether mobile payments “work in exactly the same way as contactless cards.”

“They can be used at all contactless terminals,” he said.

A young woman shopping and using her mobile phone to pay at the checkout. Picture: iStock.

Mr Wood said the security around using a phone to pay was paramount to ensuring customers felt safe when transacting with their phone.

“When you load a card to a device, checks are done to ensure the phone and card belong to you,” he said.

“Whether it’s a selfie, iris scan or a thumb print, checks can be applied in lieu of a PIN at the $100 mark so all of that adds up to an incredibly secure payment method.”

Customers wanting to tap and pay at the checkout can use their devices including Apple or Android if their bank supports this payment method.

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The RFi data found once consumers started using their mobiles to pay they embraced it — 70 per cent had become regular users within a week.

Bankwest rolled out another payment alternative — the Halo payment ring — just 12 months ago and its figures showed customers with a debit card and ring opted to use the ring for 28 per cent of purchases.

Bankwest’s executive general manager of customers solutions and insights, Pieter Vorster, said customers were often sceptical to begin with but then embraced using the ring.

“When the ring first arrives in the post it seems, perhaps understandably, the customer is a little wary and will test the waters by buying a few low-value items at first,” he said.

“But, after a few days, they’re getting used to it and the value of the transactions they make goes up and soon it becomes their main method of paying at the till,” he said.

Customers using a Halo rings do have to shell out $39. If they notice an unauthorised transaction on their account, the bank will open an investigation.

If they are an innocent victim and did not contribute to the fraud they will be compensated.

@sophieelsworth