Mastercard champions contactless technology

Mastercard is pushing for better payment solutions through contactless technology, allowing both consumers and merchants to enjoy greater security and convenience on a daily basis through payment cards, key fobs, or smartphones.

Judith Dayrit, vice president at Mastercard Philippines, said the company is very pleased to develop new ways to enrich customers’ experience.

Contactless makes use of an embedded chip and radio frequency antennae hidden in credit, debit, and prepaid cards that send payment details wireless to the Mastercard network upon tapping it at checkout, speeding up transactions securely across the globe.

“They can be assured of easier and safer payments with their Mastercard in over 100 countries around the world,” she said, adding the demand for contactless payments continues to rise steadily, with 15 percent of all in-store purchases globally using the technology.

Mastercard has already laid the groundwork for the further expansion of contactless transactions, with plans to have EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) chip and contactless enabled acceptance terminals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific by October 2018.

The use of contactless technology has expanded globally, with results of the annual Mastercard Love Index showing that the share of contactless transactions has seen a signifilaunched cant increase from 2015.

In the Philippines, Mastercard Contactless, formerly branded Mastercard PayPass, was first introduced in 2008 with issuance of contactless cards gaining momentum in 2013 as part of the deployment of EMV chip cards with Mastercard Contactless.

Motorists can now experience fast, convenient and more secure payment option with their Mastercard contactless cards when travelling on the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx) and Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).

Global fast food chain McDonald’s has also equipped select branches in Metro Manila with contactless card payment terminals.

“Mastercard Philippines has been working to issue contactless cards for all our partner banks since 2013. We want to ensure that we maintain the same standards of service for all our cardholders around the world, and that Filipinos can continue to enjoy better cashless transactions every day,” Dayrit said.