Credit card provider Barclaycard announce plans to extend their contactless payment system throughout the UK after London based trials prove a success.
Barclaycard have this week announced plans to roll out their revolutionary OneTouch payment scheme across the country in a move that will allow consumers outside of London to purchase items using contactless cards for the first time.
The innovative payment method allows users to purchase low value items securely simply by touching their contactless card against a OneTouch point instead of entering a pin number or signing. No receipts are issued so as to enhance the speed of transactions and reduce the amount of paper wasted as unwanted receipts for items under £10.
However, all payments made using the OneTouch system will be credited to the user’s card account and will appear on their monthly statements along with any higher value transactions. This will not only provide consumers with an incredibly convenient means of making a purchase if they find themselves with an empty wallet but will also make it easier to monitor the low value spending that is usually paid for in cash.
Originally trialled in two thousand businesses across the capital in conjunction with the Barclaycard OnePulse card available from September last year, Barclaycard have already doubled the number of OneTouch enabled retail outlets available.
So far, an additional two thousand contactless payment terminals have been made operational outside Greater London. However, major plans that include reissuing a large number of credit cards will see over 20,000 OneTouch enabled outlets by the end of 2008.
A number of national coffee shops, bars, newsagents and fast food chains such as Coffee Republic, EAT and Krispy Kreme are already implementing the contactless payment system in their stores, allowing faster, more convenient transactions for their cursomers. Thousands of individual retailers are now starting to follow suit in an attempt to reduce queuing and increase customer satisfaction.
Chief Marketing Officer at Barclaycard, Elizabeth G Chambers commented:
"In 2007 Barclaycard publicly stated its ambition to make contactless payments a reality in the UK. Our announcement today shows that this ambition is being achieved. Many retailers and consumers are now realising the benefits of fast, secure contactless payments and we are confident that interest will continue to grow across the UK."
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