Contactless debit card announcement from bank

07/01/2009

A new credit card innovation has been unveiled by Barclays.

The bank says that "most" of its debit cards will have contactless capabilities built in as standard from March.

This means that customers will be able to pay for items simply by waving the card over a reader, rather than having to enter their PIN on a machine.

Debt campaigners are likely to have concerns over the contactless trend, as it makes spending money quicker and easier than even handing over cash.

However, the transactions affected are currently limited to payments of £10 or less - meaning that it would be difficult to add significantly to debts by the method alone, unless it was used very frequently.

The advance was hailed as "quick, secure and convenient" by Mark Parsons, managing director of current accounts for Barclays.

"We were the first to launch the debit card in 1987 and now we are the first to give our customers the latest incarnation ¬- the contactless debit card," he added.

UK retailers that have already made the switch to accepting contactless payments include sandwich chains Pret A Manger and EAT and booksellers Books etc.

Tags; Debt Management and Banking, Recent Graduate Debt, Credit Card Lifestyle,

Regional Debt Advice; Debt Advice Sandwich,

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