MasterCard and Visa Agree to Common Contactless Protocol
MasterCard and Visa have announced that they have reached an agreement to share a common communications protocol and associated testing requirements for radio frequency-based contactless payments at the point of sale.
This protocol is based on the MasterCard® PayPass(TM) ISO/IEC 14443 Implementation Specification. Contactless payments, like MasterCard PayPass and Visa Contactless programs, allow cardholders to speed through checkout by paying with a simple tap or wave, eliminating the need for customers to hand over their payment card to a merchant or fumble for cash and coins. The agreement means that cards and terminals supporting MasterCard and Visa contactless payment applications will conform to the same communications protocol and undergo equivalent testing."Agreeing to one common standard benefits all in the value chain," said Art Kranzley, executive vice president, Advanced Payments Solutions, MasterCard International. "Merchants and terminal vendors now can invest and deploy contactless devices with confidence, knowing they will only have to develop and support one communications specification, making the manufacturing process easier and less costly."
"Building on the work of EMV, this common protocol is just the first step towards the development of contactless payment systems," said Gaylon Howe, executive vice president, Global Product Platforms, Visa International. "Supporting a single common protocol will further accelerate the migration towards electronic payments, and deliver more payment choices to consumers."
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