Millennials favour biometrics and display little loyalty to brands

The future of payments? Millennials appear to want it to be. Photo / 123rf

Millennials are keen to make payments corporeal with biometrics such as fingerprint and retina scans according to new research from Visa.

The Visa New Zealand Millennial Survey found that 62 per cent of respondents said they would like to use biometrics to pay for things because "they see it as being secure and convenient and having the 'cool factor'."

Visa New Zealand country manager Marty Kerr said retailers need to meet young peoples' needs.

"Emerging payment technology like biometrics remove potential pain points for customers. They don't have to worry about forgetting or losing their cards or wallets, and just need to spend a brief time at the till without having to insert cards or remember a PIN," Kerr said.

The survey also found that millennials display little loyalty to brands, with one in five saying they have no brand affiliations.

Technology is paramount for the nation's youngsters, with over three quarters saying their smartphone is their favorite piece of technology that makes their life easier. Other technology fell way behind smartphones with only 10 per cent choosing laptops, 3 per cent choosing tablets, and 2 per cent choosing smartwatches.

Millennials primarily wanted to spend their money on food (63 per cent), entertainment and going out (47 per cent), travel (44 per cent), clothes (38 per cent) and technology and gadgets (34 per cent).