Contactless payment spread because it is faster at the till, and speed at the till is worth real money to any business with a queue. Forecasts that it would grow from a small share of transactions to more than half within five years have broadly held, driven less by consumer enthusiasm than by card network mandates requiring terminals to support it.
Where contactless has been actively promoted, adoption rose sharply, which tells a merchant that the constraint was availability rather than willingness.
Queue speed is the commercial argument
A tap is meaningfully faster than inserting a card and entering a code. For a coffee shop, a takeaway or any business with a lunchtime rush, that difference determines how many customers get served in the busy hour, which is where the day’s profit is made. The payment method is an operational decision as much as a financial one.
Mandates mean the upgrade is coming regardless
Where card networks require terminals in a market to support contactless by a set date, a merchant’s choice is when to upgrade rather than whether. Upgrading ahead of a deadline is usually cheaper and less disruptive than doing it under pressure with everyone else.
Slow chip transactions are what pushed customers
The dissatisfaction that drove contactless adoption was with waiting, not with security. That is a useful general lesson: customers switch to whatever removes the wait, and a business competing on anything other than the friction customers actually notice is solving the wrong problem.
Phone payments follow the same infrastructure
Smartphone payment works on the contactless terminal, which means a merchant who upgrades is enabled for both without a separate decision. Any business assessing terminals should confirm this rather than treating phone payments as a future project.
Check the cost per transaction, not the terminal price
Terminal rental, merchant service fees and settlement periods differ considerably between providers, and the cheapest device frequently carries the highest transaction cost. Payment services operate within the framework overseen by the South African Reserve Bank, and comparing total cost per transaction across a month is the only sound comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Why did contactless payment spread?
Because it is faster at the till, and card network mandates required terminals to support it, which removed the availability constraint.
Why does queue speed matter commercially?
It determines how many customers get served during the busy hour, which is when most of the day’s profit is made.
Should a merchant upgrade before a deadline?
Usually yes. Upgrading ahead of a mandated date is cheaper and less disruptive than doing it under pressure alongside everyone else.
Do phone payments need separate equipment?
No. Smartphone payments work on contactless terminals, so a single upgrade enables both.
How should payment providers be compared?
On total cost per transaction across a month, including rental, service fees and settlement period, rather than on the terminal price.
Further reading
Originally published in August 2017. Updated September 2026 to explain what contactless payment changes for a merchant, using the lead story from the original roundup.
