Contactless is now available in 63 countries worldwide, and in 34 countries in Europe including 7 new countries in 2013: Azerbaijan, Finland, Ireland, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and the Netherlands. MasterCard and Maestro contactless cards or devices have been issued by more than 220 financial institutions in Europe and can be used at almost 2 million merchant locations worldwide, representing more than a 180% year-on-year increase.
On top of the steady increase of the number of places where MasterCard and Maestro contactless payments can be made, the number of contactless transactions across Europe have more than tripled and the volume spent on those transactions has increased four times year-on-year.
Javier Perez, President, MasterCard Europe explains: ‘I am delighted to see Europeans continue to embrace contactless as innovative way to pay, when at home and abroad. The figures we share today showcase how contactless payment has reached mass market adoption in several countries. As well as being loved by people across Europe, retailers are also seeing the benefit with some seeing well over 50% of card transactions tapped, making the shopping experience safer and simpler for all of us. The move to contactless is also helping us continue to drive the use of mobile payments and by the end of Q4 2013, we had 50 mobile NFC programmes live in Europe – showing just how important payment innovation is for all of us in Europe.’
