- With a contactless transaction, there’s no need to touch the terminal and less time is spent between customer and cashier
Home > Products & Services > Acceptance > Contactless Payments
Overview
Contactless payments not only provide a faster way to pay, but they help keep the checkout process cleaner by reducing exposure to health risks for both customers and employees. Card Members can simply tap their contactless Card or device on a contactless-enabled terminal—for a quick, touch-free payment experience.
Contactless chip payments use radio frequency technology to perform transactions, and with a simple tap, the Card and reader exchange secure payment information. Contactless-enabled chips have been utilized in various form factors such as cards, key fobs, and wearables.
8 in 10
Merchants agree that using contactless payments keeps the checkout area cleaner and safer for employees and customers
Source: The Amex Digital Payments Trendex, an online survey conducted between July 30-August 7, 2020.
Benefits
Contactless payments provide card Issuers and Merchants with the following benefits:
Touch-Free:
Secure:
- Protected by proven encryption, contactless payments are as secure as chip technology
Grow revenue:
- Help grow your business by offering an expanded suite of products to Card Members and Merchants.
- Help gain incremental revenue by promoting a technology that encourages Card spending over cash.
Drive top-of-wallet preference:
- Enable consumer-preferred forms of payment.
- Help ensure a secure and protected shopping experience to gain Card Member trust and confidence.
- Understand customer purchasing behavior for Card Members who opt-in to share their information in order to provide relevant follow-up offers and ensure customer loyalty beyond the point of sale.
How It Works
Step 1
Customers look for the contactless indicator on the back of their Card and the contactless symbol at the point of sale to recognize contactless enablement.
Contactless Symbol at Point of Sale:
Contactless Indicator¹:
¹ Universal Contactless Symbol and Indicator are owned by EMVCo, LLC., the standards body for contact and contactless specifications which is jointly owned by American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, UnionPay and Visa.
Step 2
Customers tap their American Express contactless device in front of the reader, which uses secure radio frequency technology to transfer transaction data.
Step 3
The terminal sends data for authorization processing. Then the customers collect their purchases and go. If customers want a receipt, they can simply ask.
