Visa plans to team with Irish banks to introduce PayWave contactless debit cards in one of Europe’s most cash-centric countries. Reducing the transaction time by waving rather than swiping cards at POS and waiving signature requirements for small transactions, these contactless debit cards are expected to help convert heavy cash users to electronic payments in their daily lives.
Visa already issues 1.3 million debit cards in Ireland. The new contactless debit cards will effectively be an electronic purse and should significantly reduce the use of cash. Visa Europe says it expects to have the technology up and running by summer. Its debit cards are used by Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank, with Bank of Ireland rolling them out to customers later this year. Industry experts expect Visa debit to fully replace Laser cards soon.
Bank of Ireland said in November that, from summer, it would drop the Laser card and replace it with a Visa debit card for its more than one million personal banking customers. Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank already use Visa debit cards but AIB still uses a Laser debit card.
For additional information on the online banking market, solutions and strategies read the following Mercator Research Note: “Global Contactless Card Market Update 2010: On the Verge of a Breakthrough?”
See original article here: http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/banks-to-cut-cash-use-with-wave-of-a-card-2503536.html