Muehltal, Mai, 17, 2010

Contactless payment in Europe

Contactless payment is spreading throughout Europe, and MasterCard and REA Card are at the forefront: from the second half of 2010, an external reader in REA T3 will facilitate contactless payment. And MasterCard offers the cards to go with it: »Master-Card PayPass« and »Maestro PayPass«.

And it all works using RFID technology (radio frequency identification): all customers have to do is hold their card to the reader and that’s it, they will have paid quickly and easily. It’s a great advantage for retailers: there will be shorter queues and more time for advising your customers.

And contactless payment is secure too. Some users even feel that it is more secure than more traditional processes because they hold their card in their hand throughout the payment process.

MasterCard now operates its PayPass programme in 32 countries, and worldwide more than 70 million cards are being used. France and Turkey in particular have been pioneering in this regard. In Germany, demand is also on the increase, in many taxis in Warsaw punters can make contactless payments, in Germany, contactless cards are available from Lufthansa, Payback and VfB Stuttgart, and all “star” petrol stations are equipped with the PayPass technology.

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