MasterCard has announced that it is setting a six yearmigration timescale for all European merchants to replace their currentexisting point-of-sale (POS) terminals with contactless-enabled terminals by2020. The migration is set for two phases with MasterCard accepting merchantsexpected to have all new POS terminals enabled by 2016 but existing POSterminals but be phased out by 2020.
Commenting on the deal, Chris Kangas, head of contactlesspayments in Europe at MasterCard said, “In 2013 alone the number of MasterCardand Maestro contactless transactions across Europe tripled and the volume spenton those transactions increased four times. Contactless users tell us on socialmedia that they love tapping and want to tap more. Today’s announcement is amuch needed stake in the ground, marking the next milestone for contactless.”
With Apple announcing new NFC payment functionality in thelatest iPhone and contactless issued payment cards on the rise, theannouncement is a big boost to the payment technology and should seecontactless payments volume via either smartphones or cards rise sharply asmore merchants move to contactless enabled terminals.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, International Advisory Services
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