Contactless Payment Methods

One of the fastest growing payment methods is the contactless method. What exactly is contactless payment and just how popular is it?

Contactless payment methods are credit and debit cards, smartcards or other devices that use RFID for making payments. The consumer simply waves their card or device over the point of sale device and the purchase is made. There are no PIN numbers or signatures required with contactless payment methods that are small and that means they are quick and easy.

More and more companies are offering contactless payment methods including American Express, Citibank and Barclays. MasterCard in Canada has said that they have seen a 25% increase in use of their PayPass credit cards.

The future is bright for contactless payment methods. There are about 10 million contactless enabled cards in the UK with that number going up all the time. MasterCard is predicting that people will spend 30% more with contactless payment methods than they do with normal credit cards. They have also said that they expect more than 150 million mobile devices to be contactless enabled in the next few years. Visa has recently introduced PayWave as their contactless payment method.

Contactless payment methods are great for banks and businesses and they are convenient for users but the one downside is that customers may be more likely to spend more freely and overextend themselves because it is so easy to make purchases.