Bank of Ireland contactless payments peak in Poznan – over 400,000 customers already enjoying the benefits of new Visa Debit card

Bank of Ireland has been rolling out their new Visa Debit Card over the last few months and already there are over 400,000 cards in circulation and rising rapidly, with over 500,000 customers to have a Visa Debit Card in their wallet by August 2012. The new debit card is the first in Ireland to contain ‘contactless’ technology allowing customers to make speedy transactions for purchases of €15 or under in seconds.

Already the Bank has witnessed changes in customer behaviours as they enjoy the new benefits of global acceptance, enhanced security and the speed of contactless payments.   For example, during the recent Euro 2012 games in Poland over 20% of point-of-sale transactions carried out by Bank of Ireland’s Visa Debit cardholders were contactless. The current average value of a contactless transaction is €7.15 and over 50% of contactless transactions are conducted outside Ireland – most popular locations are UK, Poland, France, US and Australia.

The global acceptance and enhanced security of the Visa Debit card has real advantages for online shoppers too. Online purchases already account for 12% of all transactions, with an average spend of €102 per transaction, nearly double the average point-of-sale transaction.

Bank of Ireland customers now use cards more than cash for day-to-day purchases and six out of every ten purchases are made in supermarkets, petrol stations or department stores. Debit card payments in Ireland increased to 238m last year with a value of €12.9bn.  ATM cash transactions have reduced year-on-year as customers choose debit over cash.

Making the announcement, Quentin Teggin, Head of Strategic Initiatives in Bank of Ireland said: “This new technology has been firmly embraced in Europe with over 20m cards in circulation. Bank of Ireland’s announcement in 2011 that it would be issuing contactless cards was a catalyst for change and momentum has been building in the Irish Market over the recent months. Following on from Bank of Ireland’s announcement, a number of retail groups and acquirers announced plans to rollout contactless payment capability in their outlets with thousands of terminals being installed over the coming months. Contactless technology is a key development in promoting electronic payment methods for low value transactions and Bank of Ireland is delighted to be the first card issuer in Ireland to rollout this capability to its customers”.

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About Contactless

  • The card works using a secure radio signal (Near-Field Communications (NFC)) and is powered when it comes into close contact with the reader.
  • Using a contactless card to buy a coffee, newspaper or sandwich is really convenient saving the customer carrying loose change. Customers can complete a transaction up to €15 using contactless as a payment method.
  • Each transaction is recorded on the customer’s account making it much easier to track how much you’re spending on a daily basis via your statement or current account, giving greater control over your money.
  • Contactless cards are subject to the same level of consumer protection as all Visa cards: If a consumer suspects that their card has been used fraudulently then they should contact their bank, requesting that they initiate the chargeback process.
  • To know whether the outlet offers contactless as a payment method check for the Contactless symbol.
  • As well as regular retail acceptance contactless is also particularly suitable for new sectors such as buses, trains and parking, vending machine.
  • Contactless cards are secured by the same advanced technology that underpins chip and PIN. Although a standard contactless transaction does not require a PIN to be entered, from time to time the cardholder will be prompted to undertake a full chip and PIN transaction. The total value of consecutive contactless transactions is limited; each time a PIN is used it re-affirms that the cardholder is in possession of their card.
  • There are around 37 million Visa payWave-enabled credit, debit and prepaid cards in circulation across Europe. By the end of 2012, Visa Europe expects to have more than 50 million Visa payWave cards in circulation in Europe. There are already 140,000 contactless terminals throughout the U.K. which accept Visa PayWave-enabled cards and phones,