Visa Europe Predicts 52 Million Contactless Payments per Month (July 11, 2013)
July 11, 2013
By the end of 2013, European consumers will be making more than 52 million contactless transactions every month, according to a projection by Visa Europe. That would represent a marked increase from 2012, which saw a total of 147 million contactless transactions. The rapid increase in NFC-enabled smartphones and digital wallets coming to the market will be a major driver of the contactless boom, Sandra Alzetta, head of mobile business for Visa Europe, said at a recent conference, according to a report by U.K. tech news Website V3.
The rising prominence of mobile is causing Visa to up its focus on mobile products, such as its payWave and mobile wallet services, Alzetta said, noting that by 2020, half of Visa Europe’s payment volume will be generated by mobile devices. She also said the company is developing strategic partnerships with key mobile industry players to ramp up production of NFC-enabled smartphones with Visa payment services pre-installed. In February, the company inked a deal with Samsung to incorporate payWave into the phone maker’s new NFC-enabled models. Alzetta also cited current talks with Telefónica and Visa’s existing NFC development pact with Vodafone as key aspects of the company’s NFC strategy.
Contactless payments also are getting a boost from European retailers, who are increasingly embracing contactless payments. The number of contactless terminals in Europe is projected to rise to 1 million by the end of this year, from 853,000 at the end of 2012, according to Visa. Earlier this month, Visa Europe stuck a deal with Shell to enable payWave contactless payments at all 2,200 Shell gas stations in Germany by summer 2014.
