Thailand
Visa: Cambodia’s 2021 transaction trends
A desire for increased security and an acute awareness of current health guidelines has generated an uptick in the use of non-cash payments, according to US multinational financial services corp Visa, as measured in its latest Consumer Payments Attitudes survey.
Visa Country Manager for Cambodia Chum Monika said: “While the use of cash still dominates the current outlook for 2021, Visa must educate consumers on how to best protect themselves and their finances in the coming year.”
She added: “In 2020, Visa focused our expertise and resources in ways to help financial institutions, merchant partners, governments and consumers navigate these seismic shifts. Looking ahead to 2021, many of the changes in digital payments will carry over. More importantly, the experiences of 2020 will accelerate innovation and force companies to learn from their mistakes to ensure they are not repeated in 2021.”
Visa made a number of predictions for 2021. Among them were that consumer habits derived from the COVID-19 pandemic will become the “new normal”, requiring updated fraud-prevention strategies by merchants.
According to Visa’s Back to Business Study, 78 percent of global consumer respondents have adjusted the way they pay for items because of intensified safety concerns and nearly half (48 percent) would not shop at a store that only offers payment methods that require contact with a cashier or a shared machine like a card reader. Visa believe these consumer preferences are not temporary and are here to stay.
This behaviour will further drive merchants to innovate to grow and meet customer preferences. Investments by merchants in new ways to bring onboard customers and new ways to pay, such as online, in-app, contactless and the Internet of Things (wearables, in-car, smart speakers, smart appliances etc) will be rewarded with new custom, customer retention and growth in sales.
Also, modernising payment infrastructures will reveal new potential vulnerabilities.
A growing number of central banks and fintech organisations are challenging tradition and exploring new and faster ways to send money, settle payments and share information. Real-time payments, digital currency and open banking supports innovation that matches the expectations of digitally-savvy consumers and will help drive digital commerce for decades to come. But faster payments open up opportunities for faster fraud and sharing of customer information must have data privacy in mind. Visa believes that fintech companies and central banks need to have mechanisms in place to spot atypical patterns that can be an indicator of fraud.
Furthermore, contactless transactions will become the default for most people, with tap-to-phone leading the way.
As contactless becomes the default payment experience around the world at the point of sale, tap-to-phone will enable micro and small businesses to enter the digital economy with the simplicity of an app. Tap-to-phone enables sellers to accept contactless payments without the need for a payment acceptance terminal.
In addition, integrated commerce, or “eCommerce in real life” is set to become the ultimate mainstream customer experience.
In an unprecedented year for e-commerce, driven by the general need for companies to provide online buying options including curbside pickup and new forms of delivery, 2021 will further push integrated commerce towards becoming not a trend but commonplace. Less friction, new technological advancements for app-centred buyers and a multi-channel commerce strategy will allow businesses to be more nimble in meeting customers’ evolving needs.
Penn Sovicheat, the undersecretary of state and spokesperson at the Ministry of Commerce, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has made things far more restricted for people everywhere in the way they spend. Taking part in physical shopping is something not to be expected as much, whether that is here in Cambodia or elsewhere in the world. People will look more to spend their money online and, if not, both shoppers and sellers will have to strictly follow the new way of life as instructed by the World Health Organisation – maintain social distancing, frequently clean hands and wear face masks everywhere.”
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50810543/visa-cambodias-2021-transaction-trends/