Barclaycard welcomes guidelines on contactless mobile payments

Barclaycard, a leader in contactless and mobile payments in the UK, has welcomed the Home Office guidelines on Contactless Mobile Phone Payments released today, 28 August.

Earlier this year Barclaycard and Orange announced a strategic partnership to make mobile payments a reality for millions of customers, and with the continued growth of new forms of payment in the UK, the security guidelines put in place by the Home Office are welcome news for the industry.

Trials of mobile payments are already under way over a hundred Barclaycard employees using them to make everyday purchases at contactless enabled outlets across the UK.

Dan Salmons, Director of Payment Innovations at Barclaycard said: "Contactless is the future of payments and with plans for payments to be possible via mobile phone in 2010 the guidelines announced by the Home Office will ensure that security and consumer confidence in mobile payments is further improved. We believe that contactless, via card or mobile, is one of the safest and most secure ways to pay, and have already implemented a range of stringent security measures on our contactless enabled cards."

Contactless allows customers to purchase items of £10 or under without the need to enter a PIN or sign, with customers requested to enter a PIN occasionally for added security.

As at the end of July, almost four million contactless enabled cards had been issued by Barclays and Barclaycard. This includes all new and re-issued Barclaycard OnePulse, Barclaycard Platinum, Barclaycard Goldfish, and most new and re-issued Barclays debit cards.

The success of Barclays and Barclaycard's contactless technology is grounded in the fact that Barclaycard has the highest market share of contactless terminals in the UK. Barclaycard has thousands of live terminals accepting contactless payments throughout the UK, including well-known brands such as Pret A Manger, EAT, National Trust, Books Etc and Yo! Sushi.