Commonwealth Bank introduces contactless payments

The Commonwealth Bank is now introducing contactless payment terminals that will allow MasterCard PayPass and Visa PayWave cardholders to pay for purchases less than $100 by only waving their card over a reader.

The roll-out will see readers installed at some IGA and Red Rooster stores, along with the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne. NAB recently began a roll-out of similar technology to a number of retailers.

Customers will only need to tap their card onto the reader in order to pay for their purchases, with no PIN or signature required. Commonwealth Bank executive general manager for business products, Kelly Bayer, said in a statement that both retailers and customers will benefit.

“Building on the three million Commonwealth Bank MasterCard PayPass cards in market, we are closely working with merchants to bolster the number of contactless terminals. We plan to have more than 2,000 terminals by the end of the year and with a terminal base of more than 160,000, we have the potential for tens of thousands of acceptance points to be installed in the next 12 months.”

“For high volume retail environments, such as coffee shops, grocery stores and newsagents, where transaction values are low and speed of service is essential, the contactless solution is ideal for merchants.”

Bayer said each transaction will be protected using specially designed technology.