Asda, the UK’s second largest supermarket, is planning to
trial contactless payment technology in 25 of its stores from July.
The move comes as Barclaycard begins trials of contactless payment system “PayTag”, designed to stick to the back of any mobile phone. It can be used by Barclaycard customers to make payments of £15 or under, rising to £20 in June, at any retailer that has contactless terminals.
Asda’s systems will be provided by both Visa and Streamline, which claim that the technology helps retailers to reduce the costs associated with cash handling.
Asda customers will be able to tap the reader with their contactless-enabled card and pay for goods worth up to £15 (rising to £20 from 1 June) in less than a second, potentially reducing queue times.
There are about 20 million contactless cards in circulation in the UK, and this is expected to increase to 30 million by the end of 2012, according to Visa.
Asda is the second large retailer to work with Visa and Streamline on rolling out contactless payment technology in recent weeks. WH Smith revealed plans last month to go live with the systems across 46 of its UK stores by spring 2012, where it will be focusing on major travel hubs, such as London Heathrow.
