What is a Contactless Debit Card? Benefits and Features

Overview of Contactless Debit Card

While making payment of any purchase transaction at shop/ merchant store, the card holder has to hand over his debit/ credit card to the vendor who swipes that card to the machine & then enters the amount of transaction then the card holder enters the PIN and presses enter key & the payment is made.

Now, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed the requirement of Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) in case of small value transactions and has issued guidelines that any transaction below Rs.5,000 can be processed without a PIN. Hence many card issuers and banks have introduced a debit card called "contactless debit card".

Through Contactless Debit Card you can enjoy faster checkouts and more secure payments.

What is a Contactless Debit Card?

Contactless debit card is a sensor embedded new age debit card that works on Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology using Radio Transmission to ascertain contact when the card is brought near a terminal. This enables the customers to make payments up to Rs.5,000 without swiping their cards & entering a PIN.

Benefits of a Contactless Card

Fast & Convenient
Safe & Secure
No chance of losing or misplacing it

Features of Contactless Debit Card

It works on near-field communication (NFC) technology
It allows the card holder to process contactless transactions below Rs.5,000 without a PIN
It enables customers to make payments by waving or tapping the cards instead of swiping them
It takes half the time to complete a transaction than its traditional counterparts
Currently, over 60% of transactions on cards in India are below the threshold limit of Rs 2,000
More secure as it does not have to be handed over to the merchant

Where to Use Contactless Debit Card?

Look for the Contactless ripple mark on your debit card as well as the terminal at the merchant store. This is not restricted to Contactless enabled terminals in India and can be used globally.

How Contactless Debit Cards Works?

Contactless cards are accepted at millions of locations worldwide and this contactless feature basically applies to in-store purchases. The terminal at the merchant store must have have contactless readers in order to accept the contactless payments and hence, unlike traditional transactions, you don't need to enter a PIN for making payment through debit card. Given below is the process as to how contactless debit cards works,

Steps	Details
NFC Technology	Contactless debit cards use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to carry out transactions
Special Chip on Debit Card	Your contactless debit card is equipped with a special chip that securely stores your payment information.
Make a Payment	When you want to make a payment, you need to simply hold your card near the contactless terminal Wait for the beep or see the green light on the terminal. Terminal reads the chip on your card and completes the payment.
PIN Not Required	You need not enter a PIN
Transaction Done	The payment will be received by the merchant.

How to Use the Contactless Debit Card?

Using the Contactless Card in four simple steps

If your transaction amount is less than Rs.5,000 then look out for contactless symbol and Visa PayWave logo on Point of Sales (POS) Terminal
Check the transaction amount displayed on contactless terminal
After the terminal beeps a sound and/or blue light blinks on the terminal, wave/tap your card at contactless POS Terminal
Terminal will beep and/or displays four green lights, your payment is done