The UK banking industry has confirmed plans for the national introduction of contactless credit and debit cards, with rollout to commence in London from September 2007.
Lead by Visa Europe and MasterCard, the rollout will start with a London launch focused on seven postcodes and will involve a mix of retailers and selected cardholders who regularly use their cards in these postcodes either to buy goods or take cash out of cash machines. After the initial launch, the upgrade will expand across London, followed by a gradual national rollout in 2008.
The contactless cards will be available for transactions of GBP10 or under. Customers will be able to pay for their goods simply by waving their upgraded card to a secure reader in participating retailers, outlets and vending machines. Contactless cards provide customers with a fast, effective, easy-to-use alternative to cash, building on the same secure technology of chip and PIN cards.
Organizations that plan to participate in the first phase of the contactless technology rollout include Bank of Scotland, Barclaycard, Citi, Euroconex Technologies Ltd, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
The industry estimates that more than five million contactless cards will be issued by the end of 2008, and that they will be accepted in at least 100,000 merchants.