82% of Small Business Owners Ready for Digital Payments

A new study by Visa reveals 82% of small business owners are shifting toward digital payments in response to the pandemic. According to the Visa Back to Business Study, small businesses are rolling out new forms of in-store contactless payments. This is to meet CoVID-19 wary consumers demanding protection and safety at the point-of-sale (POS).

The 82% increase of small businesses using contactless payment is up from the mere 20% in June 2020. And it is showing no signs of slowing down in the New Year. Since the pandemic, small businesses have shifted towards digitizing their operations. This includes selling products and services online (43%), accepting contactless payments (39%), targeted advertising on social media (38%), and digitizing business functions like backend payment operations (30%).

82% of Small Businesses Ready for Digital Payments

Additional findings of the study include:

• 82% of small businesses are upbeat about the future of their business this is up 7% since the summer.
• 65% of customers would prefer to use contactless payments as much as, or even more than, they are currently.
• 47% of consumers say they will not shop at a store that does not offer a contactless way to pay.
• More than three in five consumers (62%) are taking steps to keep their credit cards clean; using a disinfectant on their card is the top approach, at 31%.
• Millennials (73%) are more likely than Gen Xers (61%) and Boomers (50%) to have taken measures to keep their cards clean.

 Some 58% of baby boomer shoppers are more likely to value contactless payments than Gen Xers (48%) and Millennials (47%). The study also found that 74% of small and medium-sized businesses expect consumers to continue wanting digital payments even after a vaccine is widely distributed.

Businesses Pivoting towards Technology for Growth

As consumer preference for digital payments increases, businesses will need to enhance their fraud prevention capabilities. In fact, small businesses are also adopting technologies across their operations. This includes investments in security and fraud management software (47%), contactless or mobile payment acceptance (44%), ability to accept payments via a mobile device, untethered to point-of-sale (41%), allowing installments for online payments (36%) and digitizing backend payment operations (31%).

Security across the board is an issue businesses have to take into consideration moving forward.

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