Barclays rolls out contactless plastic for businesses

by Gill Montia

Story link: Barclays rolls out contactless plastic for businesses

Barclays says it has become the first bank in Europe to provide contactless debit cards for business customers.

The technology enables users to pay for low-value transactions by holding their card over a reader, without the need to enter a PIN or insert the card into a terminal.

The bank’s personal customers began using the cards in 2007 and over six million people now have a Barclays VISA debit card or Barclaycard that is contactless enabled.

From this month, Barclays’ business customers receiving new or re-issued debit cards will find that they come with the technology as standard.

The group’s head of debit cards, Brian Cunnington, says: “We work with a large number of small and medium businesses in the UK so we have a good understanding of their day-to-day banking needs.”

He adds: “Introducing contactless-enabled debit cards to this group of customers will provide a practical alternative to other payments such as cash and cheques and will help to make managing their money a little more convenient by making it easier to keep records of small expenses, traditionally paid for by cash.”

The maximum limit for contactless card transactions increased earlier this month, from £10 to £15.