Contactless Payments to be Introduced in 2013

The year 2012 will now be known as the final year when it was necessary to remove your credit card to make a purchase.

Slated to begin next year, payment provider Eftpos Payments Australia will implement contactless card payment options using Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV).

According to the company’s CEO Bruce Mansfield who spoke at Sydney’s BankTech2012 conference, the concept has been in the works for quite some time.

“Many consumers as well as members of Eftpos Payments Australia had been calling for EMV and contact less payment at the same time to give consumers choice,” Mr Mansfield said.

 “We should finish pilots by the end of 2012 and look to implementation in 2013.”

SEE RELATED STORIES FROM THE WDM CONTENT NETWORK:

• ATM Stops to Quicken with Contactless Transactions
• Vodafone and Visa Introduce the 'mobile wallet'
• Mobile Purchases Driving Market
• Interviewing Goes Digital

Click here to read the latest issue of Business Review Australia

The transition to contactless payments may come with an added convenience already in practice over in New Zealand: making an under-$10 purchase using Eftpos.

“The only thing that is different in New Zealand is that Eftpos has always been a low cost payment option versus competitive products and the payments system has a very centralised infrastructure,” Mr Mansfield said to Computerworld.

“The RBA recently announced that it would like to see more centralised infrastructure [of the payment card industry] and a level of competition between various payment systems which tends to deliver lower cost payment products.”

There are still kinks to iron out in the system to ensure that customers are not charged high surcharges for small purchases, but contactless payments may very well be a reality across Australia this time next year.