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Contactless payment systems are
credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
s and debit cards,
key fob A keychain (also key fob or keyring) is a small ring or chain of metal to which several keys can be attached. The length of a keychain allows an item to be used more easily than if connected directly to a keyring. Some keychains allow one or b ...
s, smart cards, or other devices, including
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s and other
mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physica ...
s, that use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or
near-field communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...
(NFC, e.g.
Samsung Pay Samsung Pay (stylized as SΛMSUNG Pay) is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Samsung Electronics that lets users make payments using compatible phones and other Samsung-produced devices. The service supports contactless payments usin ...
,
Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a cred ...
, Google Pay, Fitbit Pay, or any bank mobile application that supports contactless) for making secure payments. The embedded integrated circuit chip and antenna enable consumers to wave their card, fob, or handheld device over a
reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
at the point of sale terminal. Contactless payments are made in close physical proximity, unlike other types of
mobile payment A mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device, as the cardinal class of ...
s which use broad-area cellular or
WiFi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wa ...
networks and do not involve close physical proximity.
EMV EMV is a payment method based on a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines which can accept them. EMV stands for " Europay, Mastercard, and Visa", the three companies that created th ...
is a common standard used by major credit card and smartphone companies for use in general commerce. Contactless smart cards that function as
stored-value card A stored-value card (SVC) is a payment card with a monetary value stored on the card itself, not in an external account maintained by a financial institution. This means no network access is required by the payment collection terminals as funds ...
s are becoming popular for use as
transit system Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typica ...
farecards, such as the
Oyster card The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport ...
or
RioCard The RioCard (''Bilhete Único'') is a smartcard system used in the transport system of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The card is contactless and uses MIFARE technology. It is a form of electronic payment produced and distributed by the Fetranspor ...
. These can often store non-currency value (such as monthly passes), in additional to fare value purchased with cash or electronic payment. Tokenisation is a newer concept of encapsulating a card issuers details within a hardware device application such as via
Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a cred ...
app on iPhones. Some suppliers claim that transactions can be almost twice as fast as a conventional
cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-im ...
, credit, or debit card purchase. Because no
signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...
or
PIN A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together. Pin or PIN may also refer to: Computers and technology * Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system ** PIN pad, a PIN entry device * PIN, a former Dutch ...
verification is typically required, contactless purchases are usually limited to small value sales. Lack of authentication provides a window during which fraudulent purchases can be made while the card owner is unaware of the card's loss. Major financial institutions and multinational corporations now offer contactless payment systems to customers as contactless credit cards have become widespread in the U.S., U.K., Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia, France, the Netherlands, etc., as consumers are likely to spend more money using their cards due to the ease of small transactions. With contactless cards growing in numbers and percentages of adoption, the number of payments by this method had increased significantly since the spending limit was raised. Purchases made by card now surpass those made by cash and account for approximately one-third of all card transactions in countries like the UK. Contactless payments specifically have become increasingly popular, accounting for 4 out of 5 point-of-sale purchases in Australia as of 2019. Card issuers indicate that they will increase the availability of contactless cards to consumers. There are over 58 million contactless-enabled cards and over 147,000 terminals in use in the UK alone,
VISA Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...
estimated that there would be 300 million contactless cards issued in the US by the end of 2020, up from the predicted 100 million at the end of 2019.


History


1990s—2000s

Mobil was one of the most notable early adopters of a similar technology, and offered their " Speedpass" contactless payment system for participating Mobil gas stations as early as 1997. Although Mobil has since merged with Exxon, the service is still offered at many of ExxonMobil's stations. Freedompay also had early wins in the contactless space with
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
and
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
. In 2002,
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
teamed up with
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
to elaborate the NFC standard. Then
Philips Semiconductors NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXP) is a Dutch semiconductor designer and manufacturer with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company employs approximately 31,000 people in more than 30 countries. NXP reported revenue of $11.06 billion in 2 ...
applied for the six fundamental patents of NFC, invented by the Austrian and French engineers Franz Amtmann and Philippe Maugars who received the
European Inventor Award The European Inventor Award(formerly European Inventor of the Year Award, renamed in 2010), are presented annually by the European Patent Office, sometimes supported by the respective Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the Eur ...
in 2015. In July 2004,
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
, who had implemented the contactless RFID smart card
FeliCa FeliCa is a contactless Radio-frequency identification, RFID smart cards, smart card system from Sony in Japan, primarily used in electronic money cards. The name stands for ''Felicity Card''. First utilized in the Octopus card system in Hong Kong, ...
in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, introduced the system (literal translation: " wallet-phone") developed with the
mobile phone operator A mobile phone operator, wireless provider, or carrier is a mobile telecommunications company that provides wireless Internet GSM services for mobile device users. The operator gives a SIM card to the customer who inserts it into the mobile devi ...
NTT DoCoMo on multiple FeliCa systems such as Edy and, on 28 January 2006, on
Mobile Suica is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card, electronic money used as a fare card on train lines in Japan, launched on November 18, 2001. The card can be used interchangeably with JR West's ICOCA in the Kansai region and San'yō region i ...
used primarily on the railway networks owned by JR East. In May 2005, after some experimentation in the Netherlands, the contactless deferred payment at the end of each month, after the registration of the trips aboard with a contactless
mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
on the client's account, was first experimented in Germany during 6 months on the tramways and bus of Hanau with the
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
3220 using the NFC standard of Philips and Sony. In October 2005, the immediate contactless payment was first experimented in France in Caen during 6 months with a
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
NFC
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
by
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
in collaboration with
Philips Semiconductors NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXP) is a Dutch semiconductor designer and manufacturer with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The company employs approximately 31,000 people in more than 30 countries. NXP reported revenue of $11.06 billion in 2 ...
in the Cofinoga shops (
Galeries Lafayette The Galeries Lafayette () is an upmarket French department store chain, the biggest in Europe. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates in a number of other locations in France and oth ...
,
Monoprix Monoprix S.A. () is a major French retail chain with its headquarters in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, near Paris. The company's stores combine food retailing with fashion, beauty and home products. History The company was founded in 1932 ...
) and Vinci parkings. For the first time, thanks to "Fly Tag", the system allowed to receive as well audiovisual informations, like bus timetables or cinema trailers from the concerned services. In June 2007, the payment with a contactless
bank card A bank card is typically a plastic card issued by a bank to its clients that performs one or more of a number of services that relate to giving the client access to bank account. Physically, a bank card will usually have the client's name, the ...
was tested at the
FNAC Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling culture, cultural and consumer electronics, electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviati ...
of La Défense in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and from 19 November 2007 to 2009 in some shops of Caen and Strasbourg, this time with smartphones NFC, provided by four operators (Orange,
Bouygues Telecom Bouygues Telecom () is a French mobile phone, Internet service provider and IPTV company, part of the Bouygues group. It is the third oldest mobile network operator in France, after Orange and SFR, and before Free Mobile. Its headquarters, de ...
,
SFR SFR (; ''Société française du radiotéléphone'', ) is a French telecommunications company. As of December 2015, it had 21.9 million customers in Metropolitan France for mobile services, and provided 6.35 million households with high-spee ...
and
NRJ Mobile The NRJ Group (NRJ is an acronym read as ''énergie'' in French, pronounced ) () is a French multimedia group based in Paris. Its founders are Jean-Paul Baudecroux and Max Guazzini. Since its foundation in 1981 as a French pop music radio st ...
). On 5 November 2007, Orange and the transport societies SNCF and
Keolis Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services. ...
associated themselves for a 2 months experimentation with smartphones in Rennes in the metro, bus and TER trains. The first contactless cards in the UK were issued by Barclaycard in September 2007. PayPass trialed the world's first NFC-enabled phone, the Nokia 6131 NFC, in New York in 2007. In March 2008, Eat became the first restaurant chain to adopt contactless. On 19 January 2009, NFC is used in transports for the first time in the world by
China Unicom China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd. () or China Unicom () (CUniq in short) is a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator. Started as a wireless paging and GSM mobile operator, it currently provides a range of services i ...
and Yucheng Transportation Card with Changhong DG28 and F4 mobile phones in the tramways and bus of Chongqing in China.


2010s

In January 2010, Barclaycard partnered with mobile phone firm
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
, to launch a contactless credit card in the UK. Orange and Barclaycard also announced in 2009 that they would be launching a mobile phone with contactless technology. After a test conducted from October 2005 to November 2006 with 27 users, on 21 May 2010, the transport authority of
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
''Régie Lignes d'Azur'' was the first public transport provider in Europe to add definitely to its own offer a contactless payment on its tramways and bus network either with a
NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...
bank card or
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
application notably on
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
Player One (with the same mobile phone operators than in Caen and Strasbourg in 2007), as well as the validation aboard with them of the transport titles and the loading of these titles onto the smartphone, in addition to the season tickets contactless card. This service was as well experimented then respectively implemented for NFC smartphones on 18 and 25 June 2013 in the tramways and bus of Caen and Strasbourg., after the contactless payment on the 765 pay and display parking machines of Strasbourg was made available in October 2011. In the Paris transport network, after a 4 months testing from November 2006 with Bouygues Telecom and 43 persons and finally with 8,000 users from July 2018, the contactless mobile payment and direct validation on the turnstile readers with a smartphone was adopted on 25 September 2019 in collaboration with the societies Orange, Samsung, Wizway Solutions, Worldline and Conduent. NFC is used in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
after its introduction in Korea by the discount retailer
Homeplus Homeplus () is a Korean discount store retail chain running about 140 branches with 25,000 employees throughout South Korea. Homeplus is the second largest retailer in South Korea, behind Shinsegae Group's e-mart chain. Homeplus operates its ...
in March 2010 and in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
it is tested then adopted or added to the existing systems, like the mobile wallet
Osaifu-Keitai , literally "Wallet Mobile", is the ''de facto'' standard mobile payment system in Japan. Osaifu-Keitai services include electronic money, identity card, loyalty card, fare collection of public transits (including railways, buses, and airplanes ...
, from May 2010 to end of 2012. The NFC standard is implemented for the first time in a metro network, by China Unicom in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
on 31 December 2010. In October 2011, the first mobile phones with Mastercard PayPass and/or Visa payWave certification appeared. A PayPass or payWave account can be assigned to the embedded secure element and/or SIM card within the phones. In October 2013,
Citi Citigroup Inc. or Citi (stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomer ...
Enterprise Payments and 3 Hong Kong, the mobile operation of Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings Limited (SEHK: 215), jointly announced the launch of ‘3 Citi Wallet.’ Using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, the '3 Citi Wallet' was a multi-purpose mobile wallet service that included mobile payment, transaction history, a location-based special offer service and a search function that directed customers to the best deals within their vicinity. The 3Citi wallet was compatible with a wide range of designated smartphones, from Samsung, Sony, HTC, LG and iPhone. Over 9,000 Visa payWave readers across Hong Kong were able to accept contactless payments on Day 1. In February 2014, Mastercard announced that it would partner with Weve, which is a joint venture between EE, Telefónica UK, and
Vodafone UK Vodafone UK is a British telecommunications services provider, and a part of Vodafone Group Plc, the world's second-largest mobile phone company. Vodafone is the third-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 16.9 million su ...
, to focus on mobile payments. The partnership will promote the development of "contactless mobile payment systems" by creating a universal platform in Europe for it. On 9 September 2014,
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
announced
Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a cred ...
, a proprietary form of contactless payment integrated with its smartphones, with the release of the
iPhone 6 The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are smartphones that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the eighth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, and were announced on September 9, 2014, and rele ...
. In September 2014, Transport for London's Tube began accepting contactless payment. TFL are claiming that they pushed the banking industry to develop the contactless system. See the tv programme Secrets of the London Underground Series 2 Episode 9 (around minute 58).The number of completed contactless journeys has now exceeded 300m. On Friday 18 December, the busiest single day in 2015, a record 1.24m journeys were completed by over 500k unique contactless cards. In 2016
Erste Group Erste Group Bank AG (Erste Group) is an Austrian financial service provider in Central and Eastern Europe serving 15.7 million clients in over 2,700 branches in seven countries. History Erste Group was founded in October 1819 as ''Erste österr ...
launched an NFC-only debit card implemented as a sticker in Austria. It can be used at any NFC supporting terminal for transactions of unlimited amount however for transactions over the floor limit of €25 a PIN is required to confirm the transaction. In 2016, contactless payments start to become even broader with
wearable technology Wearable technology is any technology that is designed to be used while worn. Common types of wearable technology include smartwatches and smartglasses. Wearable electronic devices are often close to or on the surface of the skin, where they detec ...
devices also offering this payment feature.


2020s

During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, several banks raised their contactless payment limits. In the United Kingdom, the limit was increased from £30 to £45 in March 2020. Contactless payments were recommended as a safer payment method compared to Chip and PIN card payments and cash transactions. It was later raised to £100.


Adoption and usage

Google Pay is an application for devices running Google's Android OS, which allows users to make purchases using
NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...
, which initially required a physical secure element but this was replaced by
host card emulation Host card emulation (HCE) is the software architecture that provides exact virtual representation of various electronic identity (access, transit and banking) cards using only software. Prior to the HCE architecture, near field communication (NFC) ...
which was introduced in Android 4.4 (
KitKat Kit Kat (stylised as KitKat in various countries) is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, United Kingdom, and is now produced globally by Nestlé (which acquired Rowntree's in 1988), except in the United S ...
).
Softcard JVL Ventures, LLC d/b/a Softcard (formerly Isis Mobile Wallet), was a joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon which produced a mobile payments platform known as ''Softcard'', which used near-field communication (NFC) technology to allo ...
(formerly known as Isis mobile wallet), Cityzi and Quick Tap wallets for example, use a secure SIM card to store encrypted personal information. Contactless payments with enabled mobile phones still occur on a small scale, but every month an increasing number of mobile phones are certified. In 2012, Mastercard Advisors wrote that consumers are likely to spend more money using their cards due to the ease of small transactions. Mastercard Canada says it has seen "about 25 percent" higher spending by users of its Mastercard Contactless-brand RFID credit cards. , there were approximately 58 million contactless-enabled cards in use in the UK, and over 147,000 terminals in use. By June 2017 purchases made by card surpassed those made by cash. This was reported to have been driven by the rise in contactless payments, which accounted for approximately one third of all card transactions in the UK. The number of payments by this method had increased significantly since the spending limit was raised from £20 to £30. In 2018, contactless payments made up around 19% of transactions in the UK. In 2018, the Westpac Banking Corporation in Australia revealed contactless payment statistics from 2017 and claimed in the report that contactless payments approached saturation point by being used in over 90% of purchases. The Australian St.George Bank reported 94.6% usage for the same period. Recent statements by Visa and other US card issuers indicate that they will increase the availability of contactless cards to US consumers in the near future. Visa estimates there will be 300 million contactless cards issued in the US by the end of 2020, up from the predicted 100 million at the end of 2019 as announced on its 2018 Q4 earnings call. Telecom operators are starting to get involved in contactless payments via the use of NFC-enabled phones.
Belgacom The Proximus Group is a provider of digital services and communication in Belgium and the international markets. In Belgium, its main products and services are offered under the Proximus, Scarlet, and Mobile Vikings brands. The Group is also ac ...
's Pingping, for example, has a stored value account and via a partnership with
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a s ...
's Touchatag provides contactless payment functionalities. Major financial entities now offering contactless payment systems include Mastercard,
China UnionPay UnionPay (), also known as China UnionPay () or by its abbreviation, CUP or UPI internationally, is a Chinese state-owned financial services corporation headquartered in Shanghai, China. It provides bank card services and a major card sch ...
, Citibank,
JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
,
American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
,
KeyBank KeyBank, the primary subsidiary of KeyCorp, is a regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the only major bank based in Cleveland. KeyBank is one of the largest banks in the United States. Key's customer base spans retail, small b ...
, Barclays,
Barclaycard Barclaycard (; stylized as barclaycard) is a brand for credit cards of Barclays PLC. , Barclays had over ten million customers in the United Kingdom. History Barclays launched Barclaycard on 29 June 1966, initially as a charge card, but followi ...
, HSBC,
Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds Ban ...
, FreedomPay,
The Co-operative Bank The Co-operative Bank plc is a retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom, with its headquarters in Balloon Street, Manchester. The Co-operative Bank is the only UK high street bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy which is incorporat ...
,
Nationwide Building Society Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual organisation, mutual financial institution, the seventh largest co-operative banking, cooperative financial institution and the largest building society in the world with over 16 million members. ...
and
NatWest Group NatWest Group plc is a British banking and insurance holding company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The group operates a wide variety of banking brands offering personal and business banking, private banking, investment banking, insurance and ...
. Visa payWave, American Express Expresspay, and Mastercard Contactless are examples of contactless credit cards which have become widespread in the U.S. and U.K.


Technology

There are two main standard usages for contactless payments adopted throughout payment terminals with the EMV standard. EMV Chip On issued bank cards a smart chip or cryptographic chip is placed on the card known as a smart card which allows wireless payments to be made from the EMV chip in range of a payment terminal using RFID technology following the
EMV EMV is a payment method based on a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines which can accept them. EMV stands for " Europay, Mastercard, and Visa", the three companies that created th ...
Co standard. When the smart card is tapped against a payment terminal that authenticates the card issuer's details through a series of PIN interactions the payment for the interaction will succeed. Tokenisation A newer approach to smart card technology is achieved by linking a smart card to a hardware device, such as through the Apple Pay application on an iPhone mobile phone, thereby allowing mobile devices the ability to make payments using RFID technology against a payment terminal on behalf of a smart card using a token generated by the card issuer, a process known as tokenisation. A Device Account Number (DAN) similar to a Private Account Number (PAN) in traditional payment stripe and chip cards, is generated along with a private key and sent to the card issuer during initial setup of the smart card on the hardware device. When payments are made via the respective approved application on the hardware device the DAN and relevant details such as expiry date and CVV are sent to the card issuer via a payment terminal for cryptography where the associated private key is then used to authorise the transaction.


Security

In 2006 security researchers found that the cardholder's name, credit card number, and expiration date may be transmitted by contactless payment cards without encryption. They were able to use information leaked from a contactless credit card to make a purchase online, without opening the envelope in which the card was sent. Depending on the economic space, there may be a payment limit on single transactions without the need to input the PIN, and some contactless cards can only be used a certain number of times before customers are asked for their PIN. Contactless debit and credit transactions use the same
chip and PIN Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific geno ...
network as older cards and are protected by the same fraud guarantees. Where PIN is supported, the contactless part of the card may remain non-functional until a standard
chip and PIN Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific geno ...
transaction has been executed. This provides some verification that the card was delivered to the actual cardholder. Under fraud guarantee standards, U.S. banks are liable for any fraudulent transactions charged to the contactless cards.


CVM limit

Because no
signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...
or
PIN A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together. Pin or PIN may also refer to: Computers and technology * Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system ** PIN pad, a PIN entry device * PIN, a former Dutch ...
verification is typically required, contactless purchases are often limited to a maximum amount per transaction, known as a '' Cardholder Verification Limit'' (CVM limit). Limits vary between banks. For transactions over the defined CVM limit a verification is usually required (e.g. PIN, Signature or biometric authentication). Additionally, lower value transactions are accepted without sending the transaction online for verification by the Acquiring host. This is known as the '' Floor Limit''. Note that these limits typically do not apply when CDCVM verification (such as in
Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a cred ...
) is used.


See also

*
Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a cred ...
* Digital currency * Contactless smart card * Cashless society and reducing disease transmittal *
Dashtop mobile Dashtop mobile equipment refers to wireless mobile devices mounted on the vehicle dashboard. Dashtop mobile equipment (DME) includes satellite radios, GPS navigation, OnStar, mobile TV, HD radio, vehicle tracking system, MVEDR and Broadband Wireles ...
* Google Pay * Microsoft Pay *
Mobile payment A mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device, as the cardinal class of ...
*
Near field communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...
*
Proximity card A proximity card or prox card also known as a key card or keycard is a contactless smart card which can be read without inserting it into a reader device, as required by earlier magnetic stripe cards such as credit cards and contact type sma ...
* Octopus card *
OPUS card OPUS is a rechargeable, dual interface (contact/ contactless) stored-value smart card using the Calypso Standard and is used by major public transit operators in Greater Montreal and Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It complies with the ISO/I ...
*
Oyster card The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport ...
*
Opal card Opal is a contactless fare collection system for public transport services in the greater Sydney area and most other urban areas of New South Wales, Australia. Operation of the Opal system is managed by the New South Wales Government's transpor ...
*
Presto card The Presto card (stylized as PRESTO) is a contactless smart card automated fare collection system used on participating public transit systems in the province of Ontario, Canada, specifically in Greater Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa. Presto ...
* Rav-Kav *
Ventra Ventra is an electronic fare payment system for Regional Transportation Authority (Illinois) which replaced the Chicago Card and the Transit Card automated fare collection systems. Ventra (purportedly Latin for "windy," though the actual Latin wo ...
*
Samsung Pay Samsung Pay (stylized as SΛMSUNG Pay) is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Samsung Electronics that lets users make payments using compatible phones and other Samsung-produced devices. The service supports contactless payments usin ...
*
Softcard JVL Ventures, LLC d/b/a Softcard (formerly Isis Mobile Wallet), was a joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon which produced a mobile payments platform known as ''Softcard'', which used near-field communication (NFC) technology to allo ...
(formerly Isis mobile wallet) * Vicinity cards


References


External links


A Comprehensive Technical Overview of Contactless
* is designed to provide information for UK retailers that have an interest in Contactless card acceptance]
New credit cards pose security problem
CBC News
Chase's "blink" uses RFID
{{DEFAULTSORT:Contactless payment Banking technology EMV Mobile payments Payment cards Payment systems Radio-frequency identification Wearable devices