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A wave and your payment is done.
No more having to swipe your credit or debit card or inserting them in a point-of-sale device.
This is thanks to the wireless antenna embedded in your card. This contactless payment technology feature — VISA payWave — is now being considered by banks for the Indian market, Uttam Nayak, Group Country Manager India & South Asia, Visa, told Business Line here.
Besides ensuring faster payment, this will also reduce the risk of skimming of, or counterfeiting, the cards. “We are ready with the tap-and-go feature (payWave). We are in the process of testing and certifying certain banks. After that they will have to scale up.”
In Australia
Nayak said that VISA payWave is already available in Australia and most South Asian countries except India.
In Australia, more than 60 million transactions happen through VISA payWave every month, Nayak said.
Organised retail and fast food chains there have just lapped up this contactless payment facility. “They (organised retail in Australia) saw benefits as they are able to control cashier cost by introducing payWave. The stores now prefer to go contactless for speedier payments.”
Fast food restaurants (in Australia) have seen their sales go up because of this tap-and-go payment feature, without any need for signature.
“They are able to give a proposition of quick food. People who come to fast foods are generally in a hurry.”
Another area where this tap-and-go feature has been a big success is with the New York City’s taxi drivers, who insist on contactless payments. This is because these taxi drivers often get robbed at night.
“People just pay with their card or with their phone itself (SIM has contactless) to the taxi drivers. You just have to tap your card or with your phone.”
Nayak also said that skimming frauds in cards can be avoided to a great extent if the Reserve Bank of India were to mandate EMV chips on all cards used in India.
More secure
EMV chip-based cards are more secure and already mandated for those who use their cards for overseas transactions. More than 350 million cards have been issued in India, with the majority of them being debit cards.
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