8 out of 10 card payments now contactless in the Nordics

New data on card payments and in-app card mobile payments in 2021 have been released by Nets. In the Nordics – a region renowned for being a digital payments pioneer – the share of contactless card payments increased from 74% in 2020 to 80% in 2021.

Denmark is the leader in the region, with a staggering 90% of all card payments being contactless. Norway, which was much further behind just a couple of years ago, is closing the gap with 87%. Sweden, like Norway, introduced contactless at a later stage, but has achieved the largest growth last year and is now at 70%. Finland remains just ahead of Sweden at 71%.

“The Nordic region is the most digitised in the world and certainly among the leaders in digital payments. Nordic consumers have adopted contactless as the standard way to use their payment card at physical sales locations and the pandemic has been a strong driver for these ‘tap and go’ payments,” says Robert Hoffmann, Head of Merchant Services, Nets.

“This is positive for merchants, who get a faster payment flow, as well as for consumers who can pay more conveniently and without physical contact with the payment terminal.”

Data from the Nets Nordic Payment Report in 2021 also showed that seven out of ten consumers value contactless payments highly or very highly, and about 90 per cent are regular users of contactless payments.

The contactless limit set by EU law is €50, which is reflected in the local limits in all four Nordic countries. Payments via mobile devices, such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, work on all payment terminals with the contactless NFC functionality, but have no transaction limit as the purchase is validated on the phone.