Originally published March 9 2005
Consumers respond well to new contactless payment systems
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
In a push to increase credit where cash is traditionally used, all major credit card companies now offer contactless payments. Proximity payment systems, also known as contactless payments, use short-range radio frequencies to send information in a credit card to a reader, which in turn transmits the information to the merchant's credit card processing system. Visa is the last of the major credit card companies to offer this option to merchants.
The nation's largest credit card issuer announced the availability of Visa Contactless on Thursday, in advance of the RFID World trade show next week.
Visa was the last of the big three payment processors to provide the works for credit card issuers and merchants to let consumers pay with a wave of their hands.
Proximity payment systems, also known as contactless payments, use very short-range radio frequency technology to send information from a chip in a credit card, phone or fob to a reader.
As the market leader, Visa can afford to hang back and let rivals spend money to seed the market and work out the kinks, said JupiterResearch analyst Bruce Cundiff.
"To get mass-market acceptance is really tough without hardcore investment among Amex, MasterCard and Visa -- which is not investing in merchant infrastructure, apparently."
"We're trying to really push cards to be used where cash is traditionally used," said Murdo Munro, vice president of mobile and wireless for MasterCard International.
In its pilots, MasterCard found that consumers like the speed of proximity payments, and they like keeping control of their cards.
Payments processors and credit card issuers have much to gain: a bigger share of what Visa estimates as $1.2 trillion in annual cash transactions worldwide.
"In a second wave, a lot of retailers will leverage this technology to create a closer relationship with consumers.
He said both Visa and MasterCard say merchants will see a return on their investment in contactless payment technology in several ways: They'll be able to move customers in and out quicker, reduce losses from theft and miscounted change, increase the average transaction value and reduce staff time devoted to handling cash.
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