Contactless payments

Mastercard has increased the contactless payment limit to CA$250 across Canada to provide consumers with a safer way to pay during the coronavirus pandemic.

Transit systems are suffering a dramatic loss in ridership, and must find a way to welcome back riders after the coronavirus pandemic ends, since many commuters will have canceled their monthly passes.

Mastercard is part of an expanding trend toward easing restrictions to entice consumers to choose contactless payments over cash and plastic during the coronavirus.

Targeted marketing efforts must go beyond explaining the functionality and instead educate consumers about all benefits that contactless can offer. Responsible communication should prioritize those who are at the highest risk for infection, says The Futurist Group's Demitry Estrin.

Growing recognition that coronavirus can survive on hard surfaces for up to 72 hours — making it riskier to use PIN pads and touchscreens at the point of sale — is causing merchants around the world to rethink payment technology, especially at supermarkets.

Contactless cards are a potential refuge for consumers who fear plastic and cash are carrying COVID-19.

If a checking account doesn’t come with checks anymore, can it still be called a checking account? It’s a valid question that the financial services industry should be asking itself.

Coronavirus, also called Covid-19, is wreaking havoc on the stock market, with a heightened effect on the travel industry. It could also cause a drastic change in payment habits, as consumers shift to digital channels to reduce their risk of infection from handling cash.

The decisions made five years ago are creating problems for contactless payments today.

It’s an odd, and unwelcome, test of new retail technology that allows consumers to shop with minimal interaction with others.

Like its rival Mastercard, payments volume is on the rise at Visa, but the coronavirus complicates the near-term economic outlook and makes China an even tougher market.

In a move to increase the security of card transactions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is requiring all advanced features such as contactless to be turned off for new and re-issued cards until the user opts-in.

The future of brick and mortar retail is somewhere in the swamps of Jersey. Buried beneath a virtual sea in a place once called Xanadu is an underwater version of New York, a nautical Times Square where marquees scream “Piranha of the Opera,” and “Krill Grill.”

Moynihan says the bank’s consumer market share could be doubled; retail terminals would connect customer’s hand print with their card information.

Despite the convenience wearable payments hold, there are still obstacles that remain. Some factors are cultural, such as cash usage, or even more deep seated in the human mind, such as concerns over security.

The Toayuan Metro transportation company in Taiwan plans to launch a payment system to allow passengers using contactless cards to travel from the capital city of Taipei to the Toayuan International Airport.

Two of Australia’s biggest banks, National Australia Bank (NAB) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), are competing to be the first to commercially launch tap-on-phone contactless payments in the country.

Going contactless has been a bigger challenge in New York because of the size and complexity of its transit systems.

Banks are increasingly sharing data and must brace for new regulations protecting that data.

Apple has launched its contactless Apple Pay Express Transit Mode, which does not require authentication such as Touch ID, for the Transport for London mass transit services.