ANZ and Commonwealth Bank launch new digital wallet features as adoption levels soar
Whether it’s paying for a morning coffee or withdrawing cash from an ATM, Australians are increasingly choosing to whip out their smartphones or smartwatches for their everyday banking and financial transactions.
According to newly released figures from two of Australia’s major banks, there has been a surge in customers using digital wallets loaded with either a credit or debit card - through offerings like Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay or smartwatch-based Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay.
ANZ revealed that over one million customers are now using a digital wallet, with users having made more than 57 million mobile payment transactions between October 2017 and August 2018 - a 150% increase on the same period a year earlier.
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Commonwealth Bank also reported a 35% increase in smartphone payment use in the six months to July 2018 - recording 16.8 million smartphone transactions during the period.
Unsurprisingly, the Commonwealth Bank found that younger Australians were the most prevalent adopters, with half of digital wallet holders aged between 20-29 and a third aged between 30-39. Men also accounted for 75% of digital wallet holders with the bank.
Smarter ways to pay
On the back of the new figures, ANZ today announced the launch of ANZ Wallets@ATM which allows customers to make cardless withdrawals from any of their 2,400 ATMs across the country.
Instead of inserting a physical card, ANZ customers will now be able to take out cash with a smartphone or smartwatch using an ANZ supported digital wallet such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay.
“With the high adoption rates of contactless payments in Australia, our customers will be some of the first in the world to use their mobile devices to withdraw cash in addition to making payments. We know this is something our customers will appreciate,” said ANZ’s Customer Engagement Lead, Kath Bray.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Bank informed customers on Monday that Visa cardholders will now be able to make contactless payments on their smartphones via the CommBank app or supported digital wallets like Samsung Pay and Google Pay. Payment-enabled smartwatch wearers will also be able to use Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay.
“By extending the suite of CBA supported digital wallets to our Visa cardholders, we’re providing our customers with even more options to make a payment at the point of sale, whether that be through the CommBank app or their smartwatch,” said the bank’s acting Executive General Manager for Everyday Banking, Michael Baumann.
“We’re seeing customers who are stretched for time taking advantage of the ease and convenience of digital payments. Our data has revealed that groceries, food and beverages and petrol are the most commonly purchased goods.”
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Need a crash course on how to jump aboard the mobile payment bandwagon? Get started with our comprehensive mobile payments guide, or head over to our debit card or credit card comparison tables to compare the real deal.