According to data released by Standard Bank, utilisation of contactless card payments increased by more than 100% compared to 2020.
“It’s great to see that our customers have embraced innovation and have adopted contactless payments to transact seamlessly. This feature is increasingly popular simply because it makes the process of paying with your card much quicker”, says Nelisa Zulu, Head of Card and Payments at Standard Bank.
Black Friday is known to be one of the biggest one-day shopping events on the retail calendar. While many retailers have chosen to extend their value deals over a few days before and after the traditional Black Friday trading date, there has still been impressive rates of spending growth on the day as consumers seek value for their Rands.
Here is what data says regarding consumer spend for 2020 vs. 2021:
Black Friday: 2020 versus 2021
Standard Bank customers did most of their shopping on Black Friday, while still seeing value in the days before 26 November 2021, with increased spending evident in this time. Zulu says: “South African consumers have been hard-pressed in the past year-and-a-half but we have seen an increase in volume and value spent over this time when compared to last year. Online purchases have also seen very healthy volume increases.”
Total card transactions for Black Friday 2021 increased by 17% compared to the same period last year, the average value of transactions rose by 13%. The highest number of transactions done by a single individual were 79, with the most expensive transaction equating to R450,010.00.
Nelisa says, “Standard Bank worked tirelessly to ensure that we were able to provide an always on service to our customers with the network providing efficient, secure and effective service to our issuing and acquiring customers. We experienced no disruption and were able to seamlessly manage transaction volumes of up to 460 transactions per second.
As we keep innovating as a bank, we’ve noticed that our customers are continuously embracing the new technologies like our virtual card capability”. This Black Friday we saw 61% increase in virtual card transactions, equating to 28% increase in value transacted compared to last year.
Although lockdown restrictions have eased, consumers are still weary of large crowds and many people have now become more comfortable with online shopping. This shift from traditional to online retail was impacted by Covid-19 and the need for safer, more convenient ways of purchasing groceries and essentials, which resulted in phenomenal growth for e-commerce.
