Almost two-thirds of Brits would now rather pay for things through their phone or smartwatch rather than their physical card – double the figure last year – according to research.

Samsung Pay commissioned research among 2,000 UK adults last month and found that mobile wallet payments were clearly taking off.

Almost half (46 per cent) said they were more willing to pay digitally at the peak of the lockdown in 2020. But as stores re-opened in 2021 with more stringent health and safety measures, there has been an even greater shift towards more low contact, mobile forms of payment.

The research showed 62 per cent would now prefer to use their payment card through their mobile wallet, which is double the number of people from last year (31 per cent).

And 90 per cent of people agreed with the statement that using a smartphone or smartwatch to make contactless payments during the pandemic was “more convenient”.

Nearly half of those polled (42 per cent) agree that carrying multiple physical cards is “inconvenient” and over half of people (53 per cent) would happily no longer receive plastic payment cards from their bank.

Teg Dosanjh, director of connected services and technology at Samsung UK and Ireland, said: “This shift is indicative of the way customers are migrating towards mobile payments as confidence and convenience grows in more digital forms of transaction.

“The reality is retail looks and feels different these days, and customers are savvy about ways to keep themselves safe in store whilst speeding up transactions at the till.”

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