ANALYSIS-7

See You in the Future: Survey Finds 80 Percent of Americans are Ready for ‘Futuristic’ Payment Technology, Most Doubt Longevity of Traditional Payment Methods

A survey from B2B network firm Viewpost released Tuesday has found that 80 percent of American consumers are in support of “futuristic” payments technologies like sensor fingerprinting, facial recognition and voice control. The survey also found that a majority of Americans believe that digital and mobile payment technologies will surpass traditional payment methods for B2B and B2C transactions in the near future.

According to a press release from the San Francisco-based payments tech firm, over half (54 percent) of American consumers believe that companies will primarily bill their customers via automatic payments from their credit card or bank account in the future. Only 11 percent believe that paper bills will survive. Furthermore, 83 percent of Americans believe that paper checks will be completely eliminated within the next 20 years, with one-third of them believing that the demise of checks will occur in the next five years.

The survey found that 52 percent believe that payments between companies and customers will occur through a mobile app, according to the release.

Biometrics stirred the most enthusiasm among respondents as the fintech future of security. Fifty percent of Americans believe that sensor fingerprinting technology will be used for authentication to pay and receive payments over the next ten years and 35 percent see facial recognition as a “key authentication technology for making payments within the next ten years.” Other advanced biometric technologies like retinal scanning and voice control have experienced gains in consumer awareness and confidence, the release said.

“People are willing to embrace a more convenient, frictionless payments future,” commented Viewpost CEO Max Eliscu according to the release. “Electronic invoicing and payments are just the beginning — the future of the payments industry is highly dependent on leveraging innovation like biometrics, data integration, and a growing variety of payment methods to securely drive more
volume with visibility, speed and simplicity.”

According to the release, “the company surveyed a cross-section of 1,000 U.S.-based consumers.”