Pulse: 10% of banks offer contactless debit cards
While a recent debit card study focused mostly on surcharge-free ATM access and other services banks are using to entice new customers, the 2008 Debit Issuer Study commissioned by PULSE, an ATM/debit network, dealt for the first time with emerging payments technologies, such as contactless and mobile payments.
Ten percent of the 62 financial institutions responding to the survey offer contactless debit cards, meanwhile 24% of their cardholders use the technology. Key barriers to contactless adoption include merchant acceptance, unfavorable cost/benefit ratios and low demand, according to the study.
But there seems to be more optimism around near field communication, or payments via mobile phones. The study mentions that 56% of issuers are exploring the possibility of implementing the payment technology.
Read more about the survey here. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/contactlessnews-4.gif)
