Payment with Contactless cards is made three times faster than a traditional purchase made with cash or a chip card. Debit cards reach a high penetration in the countries of the region and allow us to promote contactless payments for day-to-day purchases.

Contactless payments are a type of payment that allows a customer to make a payment for goods or services without physically swiping, inserting, or tapping their payment card or handing over cash. Instead, contactless payments use radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology or near-field communication (NFC) to transmit payment information between the customer’s payment device (e.g., a credit card, smartphone, or smartwatch) and the payment terminal.

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Advantages of Contactless payments

Contactless payments offer several advantages over traditional payment methods, including:

Convenience: Contactless payments are fast and easy to use, requiring only a quick tap or wave of a payment device to complete a transaction.
Security: Contactless payments use encryption and other security measures to protect payment information, reducing the risk of fraud and theft.
Hygiene: Contactless payments require no physical contact between the customer and the payment terminal, reducing the risk of the spread of germs and viruses.
Availability: Contactless payments are widely accepted at many merchants, including grocery stores, restaurants, and transportation services.

To use contactless payments, a customer needs a payment device that is equipped with RFID or NFC technology, such as a contactless credit card, a smartphone with a mobile payment app (such as Apple Pay or Google Pay), or a smartwatch. To make a payment, the customer simply holds or waves their payment device near the payment terminal, and the payment is automatically processed.

While contactless payments are becoming increasingly popular, it’s important to note that not all merchants accept them, and there may be transaction limits for contactless payments, depending on the merchant’s policies and the type of payment device being used.

What are contactless payments

Card issuers such as Visa or Mastercard already have contactless solutions and most debit and credit cards have begun to incorporate this technology. In addition, many financial entities such as La Caixa or BBVA have already implemented solutions with this type of technology.

However, the habit of use is not very widespread among users, who still prefer to hand in their card at stores.
Technological manufacturers are also developing solutions in this area, such as Samsung Pay , available since June in Spain, and Apple Pay, which has no date yet but is rumored to be in the last quarter of this year.

User experience in contactless devices

From a user experience point of view, there are several issues to consider.

Although it is technically possible to make these types of payments with little effort, observing users in the real world paints a rather different picture.

The process is very simple on paper, as they explain in the case of VISA cards: Mobile devices also take advantage of the idea of payment in three simple steps to offer the idea of simplicity in transactions, as is the case with

Samsung Pay: Regarding the user experience, in these first months the disparity of solutions that will appear can be a problem. Until there is a certain standardization or unification of criteria among all providers, the experience will be uneven between different services, which will undoubtedly influence the user experience.

As with any new experience, you need to understand the customer’s needs throughout use. In these cases, in-depth research into user needs , as well as use cases and user journey design will be essential to avoid frustrating experiences.
Also a battery of tests with users , because these experiences can be very different depending on the context where the business moves.
For example, paying a bill at a local restaurant is not the same as doing it in a country where we do not know the exchange rate with the official currency and perhaps the customer does not understand the language and, therefore, the instructions of the waiter or the terminal.
On the other hand, the experience will not be satisfactory if the employee who is paid does not understand the technology.
A poor explanation or a simple feeling of insecurity can generate distrust or laziness in the consumer when using these devices.
Here the providers have a lot to say: either the design is impeccable to use without additional instructions or the points of sale will have to be adequately trained.
For example, Mastercard has already created a simple guide to optimizing a customer’s experience using this technology.
In addition, it is important to note that the card or contactless devices will be used at the point of sale, a moment that can become stressful if something does not work correctly and the user cannot complete the payment.
From a design point of view, it is necessary to keep the client informed of where they are in the process, using simple language that provides timely information.
For example, giving relevant information if there is an error during the validation of the process or indicating the next action to complete.

In short, the design and user experience that they are capable of generating will be determining factors on whether the possibilities of mobile payments will be consolidated with more or less force.

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How to secure your contactless payments

Approach and pay:

Don’t you like to part with the card? With contactless payment cards, only you will be the one who handles it. You don’t need to hand it over. Make the payment of your purchases by bringing your card within 4 centimeters of the POS terminal for a few seconds, wait for a ‘beep’ and the payment will be completed.

Contactless icon:

On the front of your contactless card, you will find the 4 curved bars icon. That icon should be near the POS every time you make a transaction with your debit card. Say goodbye to passing the magnetic stripes of the cards. To get an idea of the volume that this technology can reach, 50% of China’s GDP is processed through cell phones via QR code.

Lower abandonment:

Contactless payment technology allows for fewer purchases to be abandoned due to lack of cash. In this way, fewer queues are generated in stores and more sales.
the most advanced country in accepting plastic in the region, where there are 2,438 POS terminals per 100,000 inhabitants, although it is still far from the 4,233 POS terminals in the United States.

Ideal for SMEs:

Contactless technology provides benefits to merchants, apart from increasing their sales. They can use this type of transaction to ensure fast and seamless checkouts and increased operational efficiency by reducing cash usage, avoiding data cloning, double purchases and unintentional purchases.

Zero Cash:

In addition to improving the user’s payment experience, the user will be safer, because they will carry less cash in their wallet and the queues at stores will be faster.

Pay without a key:

It is a very comfortable and safe technology. All you have to do is bring the card close and you can make a payment, many times even without entering your password.

Rebound:

If the card bounces, it can be due to two situations: the card has insufficient funds or the card does not have the contactless payment icon. In the first case, you could insert the chip into the POS and, if it doesn’t work, use another means of payment.

Bonus track:

Security: If a customer loses or steals his card, he must notify his bank immediately and from that moment, he will not be responsible for purchases made without his authorization.