Nine in 10 payment ring users say it’s their favourite way to pay

According to a Mastercard survey, 89% of European consumers prefer using a contactless payment ring over smartphone payments (49%) and payment cards (44%) for making contactless payments. Mastercard has partnered with Intesa Sanpaolo bank to introduce a contactless NFC payments ring in Italy, which allows users to connect the device to their bank-issued Mastercard payment card and use it to make contactless payments at the point of sale.

The key drivers for consumer adoption of payment rings are “the desire to make payments quickly (82%), to be at the forefront (69%) and to be fashionable (31%)”, according to Mastercard. Nearly one in three older users also cited safety reasons (32%).

Intesa Sanpaolo’s payments ring is shipped in an inactive state with a QR code that allows activation only by the cardholder, with authentication via the Intesa Sanpaolo Mobile app. The payments ring does not require any battery charge or internet connection to get into operation 1. To pay for purchases in contactless mode, it is necessary to simply bring the ring close to the POS, just like for payments via physical cards or smartphones.