Visa launched contactless pilot in Strasbourg

Visa Europe France and its member banks have
teamed up to deploy contactless payments in Strasbourg.

The launch follows the instalment of
contactless payments in Nice in May 2010.

BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, and HSBC are
among the Visa Europe’s member banks that are involved in the
Strasbourg pilot.

Gerard Neboy, managing director, Visa Europe
France said: “Within a few years, everyone in France will be able
to benefit from this technology.”

Visa Europe has issued 23.3 million
contactless Visa cards have been issued so far with
Britain being currently the most active country in terms of
contactless payment, with 15 million cards issued to date.

Mark Austin, head of contactlss, Visa
Europe told Electornic payments contactless
payments gives consumers a convenient, fast and secure way to pay,
simply by passing their contactless card over the merchant’s
terminal.

“The speed of contactless transactions
benefits retailers by decreasing checkout times and thereby
increasing throughput.”