1.1 bln contactless payments across Europe in last 12 months

Newsroom 06/07/2015 | 16:18

Visa cardholders in Europe have made over 1 billion contactless payments worth more than EUR 12.6 billion, according to data released by Visa Europe.

 

European consumers have 131 million contactless Visa cards that  they can use daily at over 2.6 million contactless terminals. Most contactless Visa cards are issued in the UK and the largest network accepting contactless payments is in Spain. The UK has leads among European countries with 49.6 million contactless Visa cards and 410,000 POS terminals, France has 20.3 million cards and 405,000 terminals, Poland has 14.5 million cards and 354,000 terminals and Spain has 11.5 million cards that can be used for payments at 593,000 terminals.

In Romania contactless payments have also registered a strong increase during the past year, transaction value rising by over 50 times during April 2014 – March 2015.

“We are still at the start in the contactless payments field, but we see progress from month to month. Romanians pay on average about RON 58 by contactless cards, but we even saw a contactless transaction of only RON 0.42 made at a pharmacy. The advantage is that you pay the exact amount […], processing time is reduced and costs are zero for cardholders.

The technology supports the development of the contactless cards market as it creates the habit of electronic pay and, in addition, paves the way for mobile payments which are using the same infrastructure,” said Catalin Cretu, Visa Europe regional director for Romania, Croatia and Slovenia.

By 2020, all POS terminals in Europe allowing Visa cards will have contactless technology built in. Most frequently performed contactless payments are for everyday purchases, such as for supermarkets, restaurants and other food stores.

British consumers are by far the biggest supporters of contactless cards, making payments of more than EUR 330 million during March alone. The launch of contactless payment for all services in the transportation network is one of the reasons behind the accelerated growth in the UK, given that more than 100 million trips were paid via contactless technology since the launch (85 million trips were paid with Visa contactless cards). During last year the number of contactless cards increased by over 37 percent in the UK.

In Europe, there are over 500 million Visa cards and EUR 1 in every EUR 6 spent is on a Visa card, according to data from Visa Europe. Total expenditures incurred on these cards exceed EUR 2,000 billion, while the expenses incurred from POS add up to EUR 1.500 billion.

Natalia Martian

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