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Greece moves towards contactless payments
26 Jul 2012

This week Mellon Technologies, an IT integrator in Southeastern Europe, announced it will be rolling out Greece’s first large-scale Europay, MasterCard and VISA (EMV) programme.

This project is in conjunction with Greece’s second largest financial institution, Eurobank.

With the contactless technology, cardholders are able to pay for goods up to the value of €25 (£19.60) without having to sign or enter a PIN code.

For larger transactions, the payment may still be contactless but entering a PIN code or signing for the purchase will also be required.

Despina Kontou, banking cards solutions product unit manager, at Mellon Technologies said: "This project marks the beginning of a new era for payments in Greece. We do not however expect to see a widespread adoption before the middle of 2013, mainly due to the large number of small retailers that are dispersed even at the most remote areas of the country.

“What is certain with this project, is that Eurobank sets the pace for the deployment of contactless payments in Greece, bringing the market one step closer to NFC mobile payments.”