A survey of the participants in a four month NFC payments pilot conducted in New Zealand by BNZ Bank, Vodafone, Visa and Paymark — the bank-owned operator of the country’s ATM and debit card networks — has found that all those responding to the survey report a positive experience.

The small trial, which began in November 2011, saw 44 participants — all staff of Vodafone and BNZ — making contactless payments with an NFC mobile phone at two inner city cafes in Auckland and Wellington. Findings included:

• 97% of respondents were likely to use the service if it was launched in the future. 3% were undecided.
• 62% of respondents expect the service to be free and 14% would be willing to pay up to NZ$3 (US$2.37) per month.
• 100% of respondents were likely to recommend the service to friends, with 46% indicating they would be “very likely”.
• 95% enjoyed the convenience of not having to enter a PIN for low value transactions.
• 78% enjoyed getting a digital receipt on their phone instead of paper.
• 81% enjoyed not having to carry a wallet.
• 85% would prefer PIN-less transactions were limited to less than NZ$80 (US$63.25).

“People really enjoyed the ease of not having to carry around cards or cash to pay for such small amounts,” says Andy Symons, BNZ’s director of retail. “Since our trial was limited to small transactions for which no PIN was required, it really sped things up at the point of sale. This is something both the customer and the retailer said they loved.”

“One thing that excited us was in the way participants embraced the technology not only from a purely transactional point of view, but in the way they began to see broader opportunities for making their mobile phone a more integral part of their everyday banking needs,” he adds.

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