Ten Million Contactless Payments Made In Ireland To Date

The latest figures from Visa Europe shows that a new contactless payments milestone has been reached in Ireland with over ten million transactions made with Visa Debit contactless cards to date, showing that Irish consumers are embracing the new payment method.

Contactless purchases were not just up in Ireland but across the whole of Europe, with European consumers making 554 million contactless purchases in the 12 months to June 2014.

The average Irish purchase value over the last year was €8.09 with the average purchase value across Europe being €9.70.

The move towards contactless payments is aligned to the Irish Government’s National Payments Plan to help towards reducing cash and paper based transactions and promoting electronic transactions.

Commenting on the milestone, Conor Langford, Country Manager Ireland, Visa Europe, said: “We’ve seen impressive growth in contactless payments in Ireland with consumers opting for the convenience of being able to pay quickly without the need to fumble for change. Contactless usage has also accelerated with more retailers rolling out the technology as consumers now expect it as a standard payment option. In this regard, we have seen foreign visitors from 30 different countries use their Visa cards to make contactless transactions in Ireland in the past year.”

Anyone with a Visa Debit contactless card can pay for transactions of €15 or less by tapping their card to the terminal without the need to enter their PIN, offering customers a faster way to pay. €1 in every €4 of consumer spending in Ireland is now on a Visa Debit, Credit or Prepaid card.