Contactless Card Machines And What They Mean For Businesses

By Author: Shoaib Bader
Total Articles: 1
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Throughout 2012 we heard a lot of buzz regarding near field communication how it was going to become the future for how we make payments either by waving a smartphone or contactless enabled credit or debit card across a NFC card reader.

While most small business owners were already aware of PDQ machine devices that come in a variety of forms, some merchants are not yet educated on how contactless machines operate. Ingenico® have always been a leading manufacturer of credit card terminals whether they are simply static desktop machines for taking payments at checkouts or other wireless machines for accepting cards on the move.

There are mobile PDQ terminals that are ideal for businesses that travel anywhere around the United Kingdom, these are also NFC enabled but you must specifically ask a merchant services provider for the contactless payment option. The near field communication method of payment is just as secure as the chip and pin process which all previous transactions were subject to although ...
... contactless transaction can only be made for low value items, specifically under twenty pounds sterling.

If a customer wishes to pay a merchant via contactless they are allowed to make up to 5 transactions a day before they will be requested to insert their card and enter their unique security pin. A great deal of effort has been made to inform the general public about the safety of the new way of paying and because people were only provided with the new credit and debit cards early in 2012 it is going to take a little while for everybody to become comfortable with this method.

Smaller retailers and independent business persons found it difficult until now to acquire the new NFC technology for their stores because the payment processing banks charged high rates on the transaction fees. Only brand name terminals such as Visa’s payPass were available but with Ingenico’s latest iWL250 and ict200 series there are independent suppliers that have the card machines programmed for you and allow you to hire them with full support.

Thankfully, with the rollout of contactless technology in the United Kingdom there is a website that has been set up (www.contactlesspayment.org.uk) which will answer any concerns that people might have about the system as well as providing statistics and videos showcasing the benefits this will bring society in terms of convenience. Merchants and the average consumer will see advantages to using the new payment facilities because it means less handling of cash and fewer queues which results in more efficiency.