The recent upsurge in retailers offering contactless payment is set to rise further if figures from Visa are to be believed. Their predictions suggest that the number of contactless terminals will rise to 150,000 in the UK during 2012. That is a rise of 50%.
Busy retailers like McDonalds are increasing the number of stores with contactless payment facilities in a bid to reduce queuing times and with giants such as Tesco, WH Smith and Waitrose set to follow suit, will payment the ‘traditional’ way become a thing of the past?
London 2012 is set to be the first Olympic Games run on contactless payment, and you will soon be able to pay for your bus fare with a wave of your hand.
Barclaycard’s latest offering on the contactless payment front is ‘PayTag’, a stick-on credit card which attaches to any item such as your phone or wallet and can then be waved at a terminal to complete payment. In an effort to speed up the drudgery of queues, payment can be made without PIN verification in cases of transactions under £15.. It comes with 100% fraud protection guarantee in a bid to calm fraud fears.
So, could this be the future? How do you feel about it? Are you sold? Are you left feeling cold?
I’ve just got used to chip and PIN so I’m keeping contact, for now at least.