Contactless payment

The proliferation of digital channels and the increased cost of carrying cash due to high inflation have boosted the use of debit and personal credit cards (PCCs), the Central Bank of Türkiye has said.

The Turkish banking regulator has decreed that the threshold for contactless payments will be raised by 100 percent to 1,500 Turkish Liras as of July 1.

Contactless payments will be extended to all public transportation services managed by OASA by the end of the year

Starting Wednesday, a pilot project for contactless payments via bank cards and digital wallets launched on Athens International Airport's (AIA) Express bus lines.

Passengers on the AIA bus lines (X93, X95, X96, X97) can now use bank cards or activated device cards (smartphone, smartwatch) for payments, including contactless options.

Ljubljana – Payment cards are becoming increasingly popular in Slovenia, and debit cards remain the most popular payment method since 2018. Meanwhile, despite seeing an increase, mobile payments have not yet reached the popularity of cards, according to the latest Masterindex survey commissioned by Mastercard.

Card transactions have soared 30% this year, largely thanks to the growth in online commerce as a result of the pandemic, according to figures compiled by Mastercard.

Want to visit the Eiffel Tower this summer? Bring a mask and be prepared to climb some stairs.

French officials announced the Paris landmark will reopen June 25 at 10 a.m. local time. Among the safety measures being put in place: Guests ages 11 years and up will be required to wear masks, and the elevators are off-limits for now, along with the top floor.

Viva Wallet, the company which operates the vast majority of card terminals in Greece, as well as being active in six other countries, said on Monday its equipment has been upgraded and now accepts contactless payments without the card user having to punch in their PIN for amounts up to 50 euros, as banks had requested.

Contactless payments via credit and debit cards have soared across Turkey in February and March, the Interbank Card Center (BKM) chairperson has said.

Payments made by contactless cards and mobile payments constituted some 15 percent of all market or store shopping in February, some 10 percent higher than the rate in the same month of 2019, Soner Canko said.

5 years ago, Bulgarians were paying mostly by card for items of higher value such as black and white goods. Last year, the focus clearly shifted to smaller daily payments, according to data from the Bulgarian digital phyre wallet.