Useful links:
eMoney News | eMoney Press Releases | sQuid schemes - eMoney

eMoney News

Visa hopes to introduce 20m PayWave cards by year's end
9 Jun 2011

The contactless payment methods being undertaken by Visa are set to jump significantly over the rest of 2011, those intrigued by the technology may want to note.

By the time that the year is out, the financial giant is predicting that it will have rolled out around 20 million contactless PayWave cards across the UK.

This is according to reports by Finextra, which Visa believes will be helped by the introduction of contactless terminals in such established retail chains as McDonalds and Starbucks.

Currently, the total number of PayWave cards available in the country stands at an estimated 13 million, but such payment strategies being adopted by Transport for London and the 2012 Olympic Games are also helping the push of this technology.

Mark Austin, head of contactless for Visa Europe, said: "Contactless payments are building to a genuine tipping point due to a combination of critical factors."

Contactless technology is also set to be rolled out in the iconic black cabs of London, thanks to a strategy by Ingenico and Visa Europe, it was recently revealed.