Contactless cards are on their way

The UK banking industry has confirmed that plans are in place to roll out contactless technology for debit and credit cards.

We could see the new system being put in place as early as September of this year, with consumers receiving new cards and retailers getting new receivers.

The UK payments association Apacs has revealed that transactions on the contactless cards will be limited to no more than £10 and users will not need to enter their pin number each time they make a purchase.

Apacs is assuring customers that their cards will remain safe and says that every now and then they will be required to enter their pin number for security reasons.

The cards will initially be introduced in London, spanning from the City to Canary Wharf, with a larger roll out planned across the whole of London and eventually nationally by the end of 2008.

The cards are being touted as an easier and quicker way for consumers to purchase everyday items and the banking industry believes that their introduction will encourage shoppers to use their cards rather than paying for low-value items with cash.

“We are confident that consumers in the United Kingdom will be quick to adopt contactless payments as they are faster and more convenient than cash increasing both the number of cards in issue and, as retailers benefit too, places where they can be used,” commented John Bushby from Mastercard Europe.

Cardholders should wait for correspondence from their card company to see what they need to do to get a contactless card.

Tags: card, introduction, bank, United Kingdom, year, Cardholders, new cards