Coronavirus: contactless payment progresses in France

Would the coronavirus epidemic have favored contactless payment? In any case, this is suggested by an analysis of bank card transactions carried out between 23 and 29 March, by the group Cartes Bancaires CB, and cited by Les Échos. Contactless payment, which is growing rapidly in France where it represented a quarter of payments in 2019, has experienced further growth since the start of confinement. According to Cartes Bancaires, this increase is around 4% on average, during the Covid-19 epidemic.

Read also: Covid-19: contactless payment encouraged

Contactless payments mainly increased in pharmacies (+ 10%), but also in bakeries (+ 6%). More generally, although card payments have dropped - driven by the sharp slowdown in economic activity - a peak was observed last week by Cartes Bancaires CB, particularly in convenience stores. On the contrary, card payments in hypermarkets fell by almost 50% at the end of the week, confirming the return of French people to local shops.

A payment limit of 50 euros?

This increase is not spectacular, however. A third of card payments of less than 30 euros are still made with contact in the sectors still in activity. According to the WHO, contactless payment is, however, a means of combating the spread of Covid-19. The European Banking Authority (EBA) thus recommended last week to the countries of the European Union to facilitate this type of payment.

The ABE notably recommended raising the limit for payments by contactless card to 50 euros, it is 30 euros for France. The group of CB Bank Cards had however ruled out this possibility for the moment, stressing that the amount of baskets paid in stores had decreased in France.

Contactless progresses, however, the number of cash withdrawals, and its volume, fell by nearly 60% between March 23 and 29. The amount of cash withdrawals had however increased significantly, just before confinement, from 80 euros in normal times, to 120 euros.