Consumers in Italy used their smartphones or wearable devices to make in-store contactless payments worth a total of €16.3bn (US$17.5bn) in 2022, an increase of 122% compared with 2021, according to the Innovative Payments Observatory (IPO) at Milan Polytechnic University.

Overall, total transaction values for all forms of contactless payments reached €186bn (US$199bn) in 2022, an increase of 45% on 2021, while transaction values for digital payments, including both card and mobile wallet-based payments, rose from €390bn (US$418bn) in 2021 to €400bn (US$429bn), the researchers say.

Data presented by the IPO also shows that Milan-based European payment services provider Nexi recorded a 134% increase in transaction volumes for in-store mobile payments in 2022 and that the number of Nexi payment cards registered on mobile wallets including Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay rose by 53% last year.

“Data on digital payments in Italy in 2022 show that what was recorded in 2021 was not just a rebound after the collapse in consumption, but that the pandemic crisis has structurally changed consumer habits, who find these means increasingly convenient, faster and safe, leading the market to grow at a faster rate than pre-Covid,” Italy 24 News reports Milan Polytechnic’s Alessandro Perego as saying.

“According to ECB data on the number of per capita card transactions recorded in 2021, Italy is one of the fastest growing countries in the last year (+33.6%).”

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