Security concerns stifle adoption of streamlined payment options

Thursday, June 7, 2018 - 14:05 by Mike Price

Many British consumers are resistant to the idea of using so-called ‘frictionless’ payment solutions because of fears that security and privacy will be compromised.

Fifty two per cent of respondents to a new survey from Paysafe said that they did not appreciate the concept of sites and apps which offer safe shopping online relying on payments which happen in the background.

This raises questions about the rise of automatic payment platforms, one click checkouts and other technologies which are theoretically intended to take the stress out of buying items from the web.

Security is not the only aspect of the frictionless payment trend which worries shoppers, as over two thirds also cited the likelihood of being overcharged as a major roadblock to wider adoption, according to Internet Retailing.

This is not just something that is increasingly common in the world of safe shopping online, as bricks and mortar stores are starting to embrace systems which do away with the traditional checkout process.

E-commerce giant, Amazon, is one of the biggest proponents of this concept at the moment, launching a small number of staff-free shops where customers can simply walk in, pick out the products they want to buy and leave without heading to a till. Charges are applied automatically based on the items they choose, which sounds streamlined on paper but has clearly caused some consumers to question whether mistakes will be made.

The survey found that plenty of consumers in the UK are fearful about their privacy when using the web. Forty three per cent said that they did not have total confidence that their data was being properly protected.

This state of affairs looks set to be a barrier to the wider uptake of frictionless payment platforms, including those integrated with smart devices, such as fridges, which automatically re-order products once they have been consumed.