Japanese consumers are still used to pay with cash

Most popular payment methods among Japanese revealed. Source: pixabay.com

eMarketer has found that nearly 38% of smartphone users in Japan used their mobiles to make a payment at a physical store in 2019. That’s a 25% increase from the previous year.

While it certainly seems that many consumers are becoming more comfortable with mobile transacting, there’s a lot of room for growth.

At the same time, the number of respondents using cash at physical stores dropped by nearly 10% in 2019 from 2018. Although, 62% of respondents said they still used this payment method as of December 2019.

66% of Japanese consumers preferred paying with credit and debit cards making them the most popular payment methods in 2019.

Besides, the government has taken steps to encourage consumers to use mobile payments. That’s about its cashless rewards program, rolled out last year.

We’ve reported that Mastercard?announced?the expansion of its Digital First Card Program in North America.

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