Contactless EMV Payments: Benefits for Consumers, Merchants and Issuers

This white paper, from the Smart Card Alliance Payments Council, addresses current questions about the adoption of contactless payments, including: how contactless fits into today’s payment industry; what is currently different from earlier adoption attempts; and why now is the ideal time to go contactless. The white paper focuses on mass adoption of contactless EMV payments using both cards and NFC-enabled mobile devices, which leverage the EMV chip transaction infrastructure currently being implemented in the U.S. It describes the benefits of contactless payments for consumers, issuers and merchants, outlines the benefits of dual-interface card issuance for issuers and summarizes implementation considerations. The goal of the white paper is to provide a fresh look at contactless payments in the current U.S. payments environment that is embracing both EMV and NFC enabled mobile devices.