TECHNOLOGY
The benefits of
contactless payment
deployment
Contactless payments are the way of the future and banks are capitalising on it.
By Benjamin Binet
T
Benjamin Binet
FOR BANKS THE
MANY BENEFITS
OF CONTACTLESS
TECHNOLOGY
ARE QUITE CLEAR:
IT GENERATES
INCREASED REVENUE
FROM PREVIOUSLY
UNTAPPED CASH
MARKETS AND
INTERCHANGE FEES
FROM EACH AND
EVERY TRANSACTION.
he world has seen many successful launches of contactless payments worldwide.
The prerequisites, market conditions, end-user demands and legislation vary,
but the results all point in the same direction – great benefits for banks, merchants
and users alike. Contactless payments offer a new and safe way to pay; opening
doors for creativity and differentiation to flourish in the highly competitive
banking market.
For the end user, contactless payment technologies speed up transaction time and time
spent lining up to pay in a convenient and secure way. The payment experience takes just over
12 seconds, which is twice as fast as the average over-the-counter transaction.
Queues could also be reduced by 20 to 40% and consumers would no longer have to worry
about carrying cash. For the merchant, contactless payments can provide an improved service
combined with the highest possible security. Merchants will be able to decrease the time of an
average transaction and increase the average transaction value. A MasterCard Advisors Study
shows that consumers spend up to 30% more with contactless payment compared to credit cards.
Merchants are also able to reduce the cost of cash handling and more easily gather information
about their customer’s behaviour.
For banks the many benefits of contactless technology are quite clear: it generates increased
revenue from previously untapped cash markets and interchange fees from each and every
transaction. It also opens the door to lucrative commercial partnerships, reaching new markets by
greater presence and strategic positioning as an innovator compared to competitors. In addition,
it can aid in valuing bank portfolios and help banks have their card become “top of the wallet”,
and all this without any changes to existing IT infrastructures.
By offering contactless payment and the latest in payment experiences, banks portray
themselves as being at the forefront of new technologies, truly committed to their customers, and
in my opinion are sure to strengthen their comp