Contactless payments are on the cusp of becoming main stream. Currently consumers can use the quick and convenient payment method in a number
of shops and restaurants, including EAT and McDonalds. According to the UK
Cards Association, in March 2013, there were 32.5 million cards with contactless functionality whilst there were 147,000 contactless terminals. Marks & Spencer also uses the technology, having rolled it out to all of it 644 stores; however, recently some of
its customers have experienced ‘double dipping’, either when they had intended to pay by other means or were waiting to enter their PIN.
Contactless cards and mobile wallets work by using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which uses magnets to communicate data and is designed to ‘power-up’ a contactless card within 3 to 4cm of a reader. In
the case of Marks & Spencer, the customers were located 40cm away from the
reader and therefore it’s just not possible that the technology was the cause
of the double payments.
With more and more people having contactless cards, it’s important to clear up the confusion as to why some Marks & Spencer customers were charged twice. In my opinion, it’s likely that the reader was unintentionally activated by the cashier when processing
the transaction and as the customer had gone to pay; their bag or purse was placed next to or on reader causing it to process the payment from the contactless card.
As with any new payment method, there if often a period of ‘settling-in.’ If you think back to when Chip&PIN was launched, there was a series of approaches adopted for educating consumers and retailers in how to use the technology, such as leaflets and TV
adverts for consumers and training for cashiers. The experience of Marks & Spencer highlights the need for education around
contactless payments and how it works, so that consumers and retailers can
experience the benefits, security and convenience it has to offer.
Global brands are showing increasing support of contactless payments, including Visa who highlights the benefits and simplicity of mobile payment in their latest TV ad. What we need now is to emphasise its security and remove any sense of worry consumers
may have. With financial institutions increasingly
offering payment methods that dispose for the need of cash, we are slowly but
surely moving towards a cashless society. It’s therefore inevitable that contactless and mobile will play a key role in the future of payments.