Sage’s e-payments arm Sage Pay has reported that it processed 200,000 contactless card transactions in Ireland since the start of the year – an increase of 2,389pc since January.
The total number of transactions for July was 53,274 against 2,140 in January. The largest spike in use of contactless payments occurred in March 2013, with the number of weekly transactions increasing by 3,000 in that month alone.
Some 6,000 Sage Pay Ireland customers have installed the contactless machines to date, with the number set to rise further over the coming months as retailers recognise the benefits of this new technology.
So far, more than 2m Laser cards have been replaced with Visa Debit contactless cards as the trend continues towards a cashless society.
This method of payment is particularly suitable for the convenience store market. It is a handy and time efficient payment method for people to use, especially during busy commuter times, while the retailers benefit as it helps them to better manage the queues during these busy periods.
Retailers now using contactless payment systems include Sage Pay partner CBE’s grocery and convenience clients: Musgrave, Spar, Centra and Costcutter.
Last year, accounting software giant Sage’s payments division Sage Pay acquired Dublin payments technology company Integral for €20m to accelerate its move into the Irish payments scene.
“In our increasingly fast-paced world, it is inevitable that products and services that provide easy solutions to ensure speed and efficiency equally matched with convenience and security are bound to be embraced by both consumers and retailers,” said Eric Cooney, Sage Pay.
There are low levels of security risk to using contactless payments. The customer is limited to €15 per single transaction.
Once a customer spends a maximum of €45 across any number of retail outlets in one day, they will automatically be asked for their pin to prove that their card is actually theirs.
Contactless payments image via Shutterstock
