Technology Out of touch The effects of the pandemic could mean many people turn to touchless technology to shop, pay and travel. By Liam Kay I n a world where Covid-19 is pushing people apart, it is causing them to consider how they carry out routine daily tasks and move around the world while minimising contact. Technologies that allow interactions to remain hands-free could provide solutions. Research from Capgemini found that 77% of people across 12 countries expect their use of touchless technologies to increase during the pandemic. The study also found that 62% of people thought this trend would continue after the current crisis ends. Cashless catalyst? One example is contactless payment. UK Finance, a trade body for the UK banking sector, found that 32% of credit card transactions and 45% of debit card transactions in the UK were made using contactless cards in February 2020. In that same month, the total value of contactless transactions was 6.7bn, a 13.6% increase from 5.9bn in February 2019. Other countries are even further ahead. China has long been considered the global leader in contactless and phone payment technologies, with 50% of the population using proximity mobile payments, according to an estimate from eMarketer. The Nordic countries, in particular Sweden, have also normalised payment by contactless and through apps. As many visitors to Stockholm will attest, it is legitimately difficult to spend cash in many places. Covid-19 could also be a catalyst for more online 46 shopping. Research from Bank of America and the US Department of Commerce shows that, while e-commerce penetration in the US doubled between 2009 and 2019 from 5.6% to 16%, in April 2020 it rose to 27%. We are going through the biggest digital training course the world has ever seen, says marketing consultant Steven Van Belleghem. People need digital for work, communication with friends and family, entertainment and shopping. My assumption and hypothesis is that we would see an increase in contactless use among all age categories. He says: Some barriers have been removed, and are gone forever. People have experienced a higher level of convenience and safety, and there is absolutely no reason to go back. Safety is one of the big drivers of peoples behaviours during the pandemic. A survey of almost 7,000 Canadian and American adults carried out between 21 March and 1 April by psychologists Gordon Asmundson and Steven Taylor found that 25% of respondents had high levels of stress about Covid-19, which includes a fear of getting the virus from surfaces in public places. Emma Chiu, global director of Wunderman Thompson Intelligence, says social-distancing restrictions and peoples attempts to avoid contracting Covid-19 have boosted touchless technology. One of the health warnings is to try to not touch so many surfaces, she says. With that in mind, people