According to research from WorldPay, paying using fingerprint, palm and iris scanners is the most popular future technology choice for security-conscious shoppers. Half of all respondents said they would like to make biometric payments, far outweighing the popularity of mobile technology options.
Nevertheless, while one in five people have already made a payment through their smartphone, the research also found that 30 per cent would like to use PIN-based smartphone payments, 25 per cent like the ease of online wallets, and 23 per cent want SMS payments.
So what does this mean for the health and fitness sector, where everyone’s still talking about paying from your wrist?
It’s clear that the easier it is to pay, the more we seem to spend – just think Amazon or PayPal – and smartphone and wearable technology is not the only innovation suppliers and operators are harnessing to boost revenue. From Oyster card-style membership cards, through PayPal-style credit card auto billing and tokenisation, to à la carte fitness memberships – where biometrics enable members to pay for what they use – health clubs and leisure centres are deploying clever approaches to encourage members to splash out