National Australia Bank (NAB) customers have rapidly adopted mobile payments technology with the bank’s new NAB Pay service downloaded more than 18,000 times in just the first month.

The convenience of being able to pay for everyday items like fast food, fuel and groceries using your mobile phone has seen customers make more than 60,000 purchase transactions since the service launched earlier this year.

In just over a month:
· More than 18,000 customers are using NAB Pay to make purchases using their mobile phone.
· More than 150 customers are activating NAB Pay, every day.
· More than 300,000 customers have downloaded the latest version of NAB’s Mobile Internet Banking App, enabling access to NAB Pay.

Compared to Paywave transactions:
· NAB Pay is used more for lunch, coffee and snacks with a higher proportion of transactions at cafes, restaurants fast food and supermarkets (60% of NAB Pay transactions vs 52% of Paywave)
· NAB Pay is used more for lower ticket items ($13 for NAB Pay vs $19 for Paywave)

Top NAB Pay Merchant categories:
Category                       NAB Pay transactions                Paywave transactions                Difference
Supermarket                                29%                                               26%                                      3%
Fast Food                                     18%                                                15%                                     3%
Restaurant                                   13%                                                11%                                     2%
Service Station                            10%                                               11%                                     -1%
Retail                                              7%                                                  9%                                     -2%
Other                                              23%                                               28%                                   -5%

NAB Executive General Manager for Consumer Lending, Angus Gilfillan, said the number of customers using NAB Pay had significantly exceeded expectations.

“Customers love how simple and easy the service is to use, which is why we’re seeing more people using NAB Pay at the register,” Mr Gilfillan said.

“As expected, transactions have mostly been below the $100 mark, with customers using NAB Pay for coffee, lunches, general grocery shopping and petrol.

“Notably, we’ve also seen customers use NAB Pay for larger transactions at electronic retailers, where they purchased the likes of televisions and whitegoods for their homes.”

During the working week, NAB Pay transactions spike at lunchtime, mainly at fast food restaurants, and between 6pm and 7pm, where most spending is done at the supermarket on the way home from work.

Mr Gilfillan said customers were continuing to drive the agenda and we could expect to see more Australians using their mobile phone to make purchases.

“Australians have been fast adopters of contactless payments, with more than 70 per cent of transactions now done in this way,” he said.

“If NAB Pay is anything to go by, it won’t be long before mobile payments become the common payment method for our customers.”

Last week, NAB introduced all consumer Visa Qantas and Velocity Rewards credit cards to the NAB Pay service.

“We’re delighted to bring our most popular credit cards to NAB Pay and will continue acting quickl to make other cards products available as soon as possible,” Mr Gilfillan said.

“We’re focused on delivering the number one cards experience in Australia and look forward to extending our digital wallet offering in the coming months.”

To use NAB Pay, customers will need a compatible Android device, have downloaded the latest NAB Mobile Internet Banking App and have a NAB Visa Debit card and/or eligible Visa Qantas and or Velocity Rewards credit card. NAB Pay is available wherever contactless payments are accepted.