Paying with phone, smartwatch increasingly popular in NL

Making payment with a smartphone or smartwatch is increasingly popular in the Netherlands, now even being used more often than inserting your debit card into the pay point, the Dutch Payments Association said. Debit cards are still used for most contactless payments, NU.nl reports.

The new payment methods were boosted by Dutch banks embracing Apple Pay and Google Pay, making it easy to pay without using your card, the Association said. "Some banks also offer their customers the option of making contactless payments with a passive wearable." This includes things like rings or bracelets with a built-in chip that can be used for contactless payments.

In June, 15 percent of debit card payments were made with a smartphone or something similar. And only 14 percent of payments were made by physically inserting the card into the payment device. The vast majority of payments were made by tapping the card against the device.