Visa payWave transactions over 100 times faster than cash

Visa payWave transactions over 100 times faster than cash

With the clocks in the UK just changed by -1 hour and with extra time on all our minds, findings from the Visa Europe 'Time in Motion' study reveal that the average London commuter could be wasting up to three days each year paying for everyday low value items with cash.

The study of over 100 commuters discovered that each week the average London commuter is wasting just over one hour by handing over cash in return for typical day-to-day purchases like newspapers, coffees and snacks. This also includes time spent queuing up at cashpoints. This is in sharp contrast to the time savings they could be making by paying with the recently introduced Visa payWave contactless technology which enables payment in under a second. Compared with the average time of a cash transaction for a coffee - 162 seconds - that's a lot of time saved.

Commenting on the findings, Sandra Alzetta, Senior Vice President, Innovation and Acceptance at Visa Europe said: "People will be looking forward to that extra hour from Sunday morning, but our study shows they could in fact be enjoying another 72 hours if they stopped using cash for low value items. Visa payWave's contactless technology has been designed to offer consumers and retailers a faster way to pay and be paid for everyday transactions £10 and under. Switching to contactless technology would bring the added benefit of helping them to keep a closer handle on their expenditure."

*Based on the sum of the yearly transactions in cash divided by the sum of the same transactions using Visa payWave, where a Visa payWave transaction takes less than a second.

Key Findings:

The typical commuter day - the cash point : The Visa study shows that 63% of commuters travelling around London, on average make two or three cash withdrawals each week. With the average cash withdrawal, including the queuing time, taking around 146 seconds, this means commuters could be wasting up to seven minutes and 18 seconds every week at the cashpoint.

Newspaper**: A catch up on the latest news during their commute is a must for most people and Visa's study revealed that on average 33% of commuters purchase a newspaper seven times throughout each working week. To buy a paper, the average transaction takes 31 seconds, revealing that each working week commuters are spending three minutes and 37 seconds buying their newspaper. Over a year this equates to three hours, eight minutes and 34 seconds buying newspapers.

Coffee**: A must for most commuters - the study found that 37% of commuters are spending 162 seconds per cash transaction up to nine times a week for that all important cup of coffee. This means that in one week the average commuter is spending a total of 24 minutes and 18 seconds purchasing their weekly caffeine fix.

Lunch and snacks**: Over one third (35%) of London commuters are buying lunch and snacks up to nine times during their working week. With the average lunch taking around 158 seconds (two minutes and 38 seconds) to buy, in a week the average commuter is spending a total of 23 minutes and 42 seconds buying their lunch.

Groceries**: With the growth in supermarkets on the high street, Visa's study revealed that for ease and convenience commuters are heading to the smaller 'express' supermarkets during their working day: The study found that of the 19% of commuters who head to the shops up to a total of nine times during the working week, an average of 82 seconds (one minute and 22 seconds) is being spent paying for their groceries. Per week this translates to 12 minutes and 18 seconds, so in a year the average London commuter spends ten hours, 41 minutes and 19 seconds at the grocery checkout.

**Timings refer to the time it takes to complete the transaction with the cashier and do not take account of queuing or decision-making time etc.

Concludes Sandra Alzetta: "The Visa Time in Motion study shows that because of their reliance on cash to pay for everyday expenses, commuters are wasting significant amounts of time queuing to visit the cashpoint two to three times a week."

"With over 70% of commuters admitting to spending up to £50 in cash each week on sundry expenses it is easy to see the opportunity for contactless payments as a cash replacement product. Technology like Visa payWave means people can save time when they spend - invaluable in our time pressured society where every second counts."

www.visa.co.uk