Visa Hits a Billion Contactless Payments as of Europe’s Cap Increase

According to a recent press release, Visa has completed an impressive 1 billion contactless transactions in Europe, from the time the continent increased its transaction cap in 2020. 

“The growing need for contact-free transactions shows that contactless payments are now an everyday payment avenue for retailers and consumers in Europe,” said Charlotte Hogg, Chief Executive of Visa Europe.

This success comes after the cap raise on 29 European countries, which saw contactless payments limits go up by an impressive 50 percent thanks to a pandemic that has sped up both client and customer need for touch-free payments.

Sixty-five percent of shoppers worldwide would go for contactless transactions as often or more than they presently do, the release said, citing recent studies by Visa.

More than 80 percent of European in-store Visa payments now happen contactlessly, the press release stated. Shoppers would rather use contactless solutions as they allow speedy transactions without compromising on safety.

“Contactless stands out as one of the safest ways to pay, with one of the fewest fraud cases among all payment avenues. As a result, shoppers have confidence in contactless transactions and expect to use the avenue everywhere they pay for items,” Visa stressed. 

The adoption is especially noteworthy in the UK, claiming more than 400 million of the 1 billion Visa contactless payments. 

In response, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority plans to push the contactless transaction cap even higher. The new rates will stand at £100 for single payments and £300 for multiple payments.

As economies recover, the presence of safe ways to buy, checkout, and get in touch with  business is now crucial in allowing shoppers to buy whatever they want while helping boost the economy.”

“Enabling contactless payments is a significant step in the right route as regards to empowering Europe’s economic comeback as lockdown restrictions ease and merchants look to make the most of consumer confidence,” Visa noted.

Final Words

Contactless payments is now a staple payment approach as more merchants come on board and customers demand new payment methods. Hopefully, this method will grow more popular as adoption increases worldwide.

Author Bio

Payment industry guru Taylor Cole is a passionate payments expert from bestpaymentproviders.co.uk who understands the complex world of merchant accounts. He also writes non-fiction on subjects ranging from personal finance to stocks to cryptopay. He enjoys eating pie with ice cream on his backyard porch, as should all right-thinking people.