Polish Banks Embrace HCE-Based Mobile Payments (Jan. 7, 2015)
Nine banks in Poland are preparing to launch mobile payments services via host card emulation (HCE) technology early this year, according to Visa Europe. The move will enable bank customers to make contactless payments using NFC-enabled Android smartphones via Visa’s cloud-based NFC payment specifications. Participating banks include ING Bank Śląski, mBank, Bank Millennium, Raiffeisen Polbank, eurobank, Getin Bank, Bank Polskiej Spółdzielczośi, Bank SMART and Bank Zachodni WBK, Visa Europe says.
Poland ranks first in Europe in contactless transaction volumes, with more than 40 percent of all Visa POS transactions conducted via contactless technology, according to Visa Europe data. More than 75 percent of the nation’s POS terminals are contactless and close to 70 percent of Visa payment cards in circulation are contactless. All of Poland’s POS terminals will be contactless-ready by the end of 2017, Visa Europe forecasts.
Spain’s BBVA and Bankinter last year announced plans to launch mobile payments via HCE using Visa’s NFC specification. Visa says more banks plan to launch HCE-based mobile payments service, including in France, Italy and Slovakia.
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