First National Bank (FNB) is a leader in digital banking in South Africa. The bank offers clients access to a wide range of banking services through their digital banking platforms.
In an effort to improve services for clients, FNB has introduced tap-and-go facilities onto their cards. This means that all new FNB cards support tap-to-pay technology. The technology is taking off globally and South African consumers are poised to use it more frequently. Local financial institutions such as FNB are making the switch and are giving clients a safer way of transacting.
By using the tap-to-pay technology, cards will be tapped onto terminals for transactions of R200 or less. Instead of sliding the cards into the machines and entering a PIN, customers will get to just tap their cards on the terminal.
“Payments are around a third faster than normal PIN-based transactions, meaning less time spent in queues and the fact that the customer’s card never leaves their hand gives a greater level of security,” chief executive officer of FNB Credit Card Chris Labuschagne said in a statement.
Making payments is secure. The new FNB cards support tap-to-pay technology and are also encrypted to prevent information from being stolen and reproduced.
As many as 1 million supporting cards are currently available in the market and the bank expects good growth in contactless tap payments.
In fact, research has shown that the number of customers using the technology has doubled in the last six months.
These payments are the next move in the digital era, designed to make payments more efficient and safe. Payments are around 33% faster than normal PIN-based transactions.
FNB says:
“We are expecting to see much wider adoption as customers become accustomed to the contactless technology and more merchants are geared towards these types of payments.”