Paying by mobile phone is still in its infancy in Austria. The main reason for this is that paying by ATM or credit card is still widespread – and many still like paying cash.
Chinese tourists like to pay with their mobile phones in Austria. For this they use the payment service Alipay, which cooperates with the Austrian mobile payment service Bluecode. With Bluecode, Austrians can pay by mobile phone, especially young people accept the offer, says telecommunications expert Karim Taga of consulting firm Arthur D. Little to Ö1.
„The Millennials like to use the phone for everything. If you pay with a mobile, you have an app and see more details. You immediately see how much has been booked from which account. They get another picture, „said Taga.
„Added value no longer bigger“
By contrast, the vast majority of the population does not use the mobile phone to pay. According to Taga, that’s because Austria was a pioneer in contactless payment with cards in Europe. „The banks have delivered the credit and debit cards to the Austrians at an early stage and at the same time they have upgraded the trade. The added value of taking my phone out is not greater, because I can do that today with a debit or credit card, „said Taga.
In any case, to be able to pay with a mobile phone requires an agreement with a bank. In Austria, however, banks have no interest in leaving the field to foreign payment systems such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet or Paypal, says Taga. „As I understand it, the banks are currently reluctant. Because the payment terms with Apple and others are not attractive to them. „Say, it’s too expensive.
Trade has to make agreement directly with banks
For example, if retailers wanted to allow Chinese tourists to pay by mobile phone, they would need to make arrangements with banks themselves, says Taga. The costs for this only pay off where there is a correspondingly high demand for it, says the managing director of the Chamber of Commerce, Iris Thalbauer.
„If I’m a trading company in an A-location, where a lot of Asian customers are traveling and want to shop there, of course, these companies will of course accept this method of payment, which the customer wants, in order not to waive the sales. In other situations, it will make little sense for the trading company, because it is of course a cost issue, „says Thalbauer.
Moreover, Austria is still a country in which cash plays a big role in shopping, says Thalbauer. Banks may miss the train in the long term if they do not jump on the new payment systems now.
