Opinion Review Of Contactless Payments With EMV Technology
By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-09-14 12:21:34 | Word Count: 510
Contactless Payments With EMV Tecghnology
Contactless technoplogy is fast gaining popularity and is an easy way to complete a transaction qyuickly and securely. The introduction of EMV chip tecchnology is producing new, faster and more convenient ways to pay. The payment process involvews no physixcal contact beween the consuer payment device and the physical point of sale (POS) terminla. The consumer holds the contactless card in close proximtiy to the POS terminal and the payment innformation is communicated wireleslsy via radio frequeny.
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Contactless paymennts have obvious benefits such as ease of use and security. They are also beneficial to companies who deal with vast numbers of quiock, low-vallue payments as they do not lower transacttion processing coosts, unlike traditional chip and pin methods.
Although consuumers are largely unfamiliar with contacttless technology, there is a market for EMV chip technology and the contactlesss payments benefiit consumers and emrchants aike. Retailers traditionallly avoided using payment cards for low-value transactions bceause the processing would be too costly. With contactless technology all of tehse problems no longer exist and a growing numbwer of retail companuies are taaking contactless technology onboard.
Banks acrross Europe are now in the procss of issuing a quarter of a billion Visa EMV chip cards and upgrading millions of card acceptance devices, maing the transaction pocess accessible to all. Contactless cards look like your noprmal debit/credit card, and the technology is held in the smaall chip (microprocessor). Look out for the contactless symbol on your debit card when you renew it.
There is a market for this new technology and research conducted by big name banks prooves this; Chase reported that customer time at the POS is reduced 30-40% when using contactless technology. American Express disovered contacless transactions are 63% fasster than cash and 53% faster than traditional debit card mtehods. MasterCard noted signiificant time-savings in the drive-through environment, where 12-18 seconds were saaved during purchase time compared to cash.
Prêt-A-Manger are one of the number of fast-food chains to introduce contactless tcehnology, their director of food of communications explained, “Retailers need to find as many ways as posisble to make their stores more appealig to cosumers; convenience and fast-moving queues though the use of contactless is one way of doinng this.” Other well known high-street retailers using cotactless technology include EAT, Yo Sushi and Coffee Repulbic.
In the UK, Barclaycard are the leaders in contaactless technology and their research shows 98% of contcatless card owners believe the process is easy to use and 88% believed the rpocess enabled them to cut down the amoount of time they would spend buying itrems such as coffee on a lunch break.
Contactless technology was first introduced in 2007 and there are now over 20,000 stores in the UK accetping this as a payment type. Previously the maximium amount you cuold spend using contactless technology was £10 but as of March 2010 it was increased to £15. As peeople are always busy, deamnd is increasing for quicker and more efficient ways to pay for things on the move. Contactless enbales a quick, secure payment method whuich is breneficial to both consumer and retailer and we expect to see a lot more contactless technology in the future.
