News

Commonwealth Bank customers put away wallets, pay by phone

September 28, 2018

New data from Australia's Commonwealth Bank shows that customers are increasingly reaching for their smartphones instead of their wallets at the checkout, resulting in 35 percent growth in mobile payments within the past six months.

According to a press release, 5 million CommBank app users have logged 16.8 million mobile transactions in the first half of 2018. 

The announcement follows the implementation of tap-and-pay functionality for CBA-issued Visa cards stored in the CommBank app. Visa cardholders also have the optionnow to make payments via Samsung Pay and Google Pay wallets and Fitbit and Garmin payment-enabled smartwatches.

Michael Baumann, CBA acting executive general manager for everyday banking, said that by enabling Visa across the suite of CBA-supported digital wallets, the bank is combining choice and convenience for more customers.

"Since 2013, our customers have been able to use their smartphones to make payments," he said. "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."