Consumer opinion on virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) payments worldwide 2023

Virtual reality and augment reality integration within digital payments did not receive the usual concern from consumers on the technology's security in 2023. Instead, a survey held across 14 different countries in North America, Europe, and Latin America names the availability of the technology - and what it can potentially do - as the main hurdles for further adoption. The source adds, for example, that 12 percent of respondents would not use either VR or AR for payments due to security issues. This contrasted with the respondents who said they would not either technology in the future because they did not know enough about it. This is unlike investors, who are expected to invest significantly into consumer use cases for AR/VR in 2024, most notably VR/AR gaming.

Item purchases in the metaverse involve real-world payments somewhere in the buying process

AR/VR gaming is mostly associated with the metaverse. This brings up the question of what payment method consumers would prefer in the metaverse. A 2023 survey from PayPal stated that United States purchases in a metaverse were mostly done with PayPal itself, ahead of debit cards and crypto. This, however, included two types of purchases. First, it included direct item purchases, e.g., using PayPal to buy virtual clothing directly. Second, the survey also included the conversion of real-world money into in-game currency such as Robux (Roblox), V-Bucks (Fortnite) or MANA (the cryptocurrency for Decentraland). This in-game currency could then be spent on in-game purchases. Although there was no clear favorite, in-game tokens were often mentioned as one of several payment methods in the metaverse among gamers in 2021.

Biometric authentication is not anticipated to grow fast within payments

AR/VR has the capability to allow biometric transactions, using voice or iris recognition, to authorize the payment. A 2023 survey, however, names payment environments like digital wallets an unlikely place for increasing use of biometric technology. Respondents did not state why they believed that, although it may have to do with the adoption of already existing wallets like Apple Pay in various countries across the world. These do not require biometrics to function.