Visa Europe, RBS and NatWest launch contactless payments
Over two million RBS and NatWest customers will receive
Visa contactless cards in 2013
London, 5th February, 2013: Visa Europe today
announced that contactless cards will be rolled out to RBS and
NatWest cardholders in the UK. Over two million eligible RBS and
NatWest customers will receive a contactless card over the next
year as part of the bank’s ongoing commitment to innovation and
customer service.
Mark Austin, Vice President - Contactless at Visa Europe
said: “We’re delighted to announce that RBS and NatWest
will be rolling out Visa contactless cards in 2013. Many major
merchants like Marks & Spencer, the Post Office and London’s
buses are now accepting contactless payment as the service becomes
a high street reality. We are expecting to see contactless
transaction volumes quadruple in 2013 as momentum in this exciting
space continues to grow.”
Steve Rubenstein, Director of Everyday Banking at
NatWest and RBS said: “Contactless payments will offer our
customers speed and convenience for low value payments, making
their day-to-day shopping experience much easier, with all the
security and protection of any Visa product.”
Today there are almost 30 million contactless cards in
circulation in the UK and around 50 million in Europe. Contactless
payments are accepted at more than 150,000 terminals in the UK and
a total of 590,000 across Europe. By the end of 2013, there will be
more than 70 million Visa contactless cards in use across
Europe.
About Visa Europe
Visa Europe is a payments technology business owned and operated
by member banks and other payment service providers from 36
countries across Europe.
Visa Europe works at the forefront of technology to create the
services and infrastructure which enable millions of European
consumers, businesses and governments to make electronic payments.
Its members are responsible for issuing cards, signing up retailers
and deciding cardholder and retailer fees.
Visa Europe operates a high volume, low cost business model that
provides services to its members. Its surplus is reinvested into
the business and used to improve capital and reserves. In the last
six years, Visa Europe has invested over €1 billion in new
technology and infrastructure.
There are 466m Visa cards in Europe while €1 in every €6.75
spent in Europe is on a Visa card. Almost 80% of Visa Europe's
business is on debit cards and, in the year to September 2012, over
€1 trillion (€1.02bn) was spent on Visa debit cards. Annual online
spending on Visa cards in Europe topped €200 billion (€202bn) for
the first time in this period and now accounts for more than 20% of
Visa Europe’s processed business.
Since 2004, Visa Europe has been independent of Visa Inc. and
incorporated in the UK, with an exclusive, irrevocable and
perpetual licence in Europe. Both companies work in partnership to
enable global Visa payments. As a dedicated European payment system
Visa Europe is able to respond quickly to the specific market needs
of European banks and their customers - cardholders and retailers -
and to meet the European Commission’s objective to create a true
internal market for payments.
For more information, please visit www.visaeurope.com
About the RBS Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group is an international
banking and financial services company. From its headquarters in
Edinburgh, the RBS Group operates in the United Kingdom, Europe,
the Middle East, the Americas and Asia, serving over 30 million
customers worldwide.
The RBS Group provides a wide range of products and services to
personal, commercial, large corporate and institutional customers
through its two principal subsidiaries, The Royal Bank of Scotland
plc and National Westminster Bank Plc, as well as through a number
of other well-known brands including Citizens, Charter One, Ulster
Bank, Coutts and Direct Line.
For more information please visit www.rbs.com.