Parallel to the development of new means of payment, which little by little are trying to displace cash, credit and debit cards are also carrying forward their own technological evolution.
In both cases, the objective is the same: to simplify the operation for users, speed up the time of transactions and gain market against the use of cash.
On the side of plastics, as well as the magnetic stripe was complemented with the incorporation of the chip, now it is the turn of the contactless system, which although it will coexist with the previous technology will bring greater benefits to consumers.
It is a payment system with NFC technology (Near Field Communication), by which the customer carries out the transaction simply by bringing the card to the POS, similar to the use of the SUBE for public transport.
Although this mechanism landed in mid-2018 in Argentina, this year promises to make the big leap by aggressive promotions and the boost of Visa and MasterCard, the two main stations, which plan to triple their stock and reach 3 million plastics each one for December 2019.
"There are already more than 10 banks issuing contactless Visa cards, as of this month, all the remaining entities that issue Visa in the country will start offering them and will make the corresponding announcements", anticipate iProUP from the company, which this year He launched fully into the new system.
"We are close to exceeding one million plastics in the market and we hope to triple our current stock by the end of the year," they add.
In the case of MasterCard, which was the one that took the first step in the local level, there are already 15 banks that issue contactless cards for customers of all segments.
The plan of the company plans to have in circulation about three million by the end of this year, from the current 750,000. A fact that comes from the brand of the two circles is that "a contactless card has up to twice as much activity as a non-contactless card".
Double-entry benefits
In the market it is clear that more banks are adding to offer this type of plastics. For this, they are offering important discounts to users, mostly driven from the issuing companies.
According to market sources, the agility, speed and comfort provided by this system is highly valued by customers, beyond the initial seduction power of promotions.
Mastercard carries out the 'contactless week' every month, with discounts of up to 30% in shops of different categories. In the last campaign, the profit reached purchases in Private Tonel, Carrefour Express, Farmacity, Havanna, Le Pain Quotidien, Dandy, Tea Connection, Green Eat, Central Market, Campo Bravo, Inside, Galerías Pacífico, Palmares, YPF, Iobella and Open 25 hours!
"The Contactless week showed that Galerias Pacífico and Carrefour Express stayed ahead in number of transactions, followed by YPF and Farmacity," they say to iProUP from Mastercard.
As they add from the company, the chain of drugstores Open 25hs! He also had a lot of transactions. This reflects that non-contact plastics are used for all types of consumption, large amounts but also small.
"We will unveil the campaigns in a timely manner," they point to iProUP from Visa regarding the marketing strategy they will implement.
"The benefits on contactless cards are in everyday items, such as fuels, supermarkets or pharmacies, and are not limited to clothing and travel stores, which are less frequent", analyzes Mariano Mancurti, HSBC card manager, in relation to the results of Mastercard's 'Contactless Week'.
"Almost all customers go to these stores every month and take advantage of the wide range of discounts," adds the executive to iProUP, who says that sales are growing by double digits every month.
Of course, the additional rebates offered by each entity are also key to encouraging the use of new plastics and, in many cases, the coincidence of the campaigns is not coincidental.
"To encourage the use of the cards, we made the promotions that we give to our customers coincide with those that Mastercard launches for the use of contactless." Some weekends in the shopping centers, such as the Galerías Pacífico, reached have up to 75% discount if they used the MasterCard contactless ", explains Mancurti.
"That allowed many to be encouraged to experience this new technology, and the truth is that once they try it they do not go down anymore," he adds.
From Visa, agree that for the items of daily consumption are the right place to promote new plastics. "We know that contactless payments are an excellent alternative for categories in which speed is of paramount importance, such as in fast-service restaurants, warehouses, pharmacies, large convenience stores, public transportation and vending machines, among so many other options ", indicate iProUP from Visa.
Regarding the adoption process, they point out: once a person starts using this card, it extends its use to all types of purchases "due to the good experience it generates, mainly in terms of speed and security".
Around the world
These attributes are those that managed to install this new plastic in different parts of the world until monopolize the greater proportion of the consumptions with plastics.
"In countries such as Chile, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, it is clear how it is displacing cash even in small transactions," explained Mastercard, which has Canada at the pinnacle of contactless use throughout the Americas, surpassing even To united states.
The famous 'Tap and go', as this mode of payment is colloquially used in Canada, is for daily use. In that country, 50% of card transactions correspond to contactless, and in some stores it represents 80%. The distinctive point is that only 30% is made in cash, when in the region the use of cash is around 85%.
"In the region, the example to look at is Chile: more than 50% of the face-to-face operations are carried out under the contactless system, and more than 90% of the payment terminals (POS) are already authorized to accept this technology", Advance from Visa.
Regarding the use abroad, from Mastercard point to iProUP that with contactless have already been extended to 42 countries, while foreigners from 65 nations used their card with this modality in Argentina.
The card, bank by bank
One of the pioneers in the country was Itaú, which in September 2018 began offering contactless Mastercard cards to its customers and today all the new plastics of the Brazilian bank have that technology.
"All card registrations are being issued under this technology: Renewals, reprints and replacements," Maria Cecilia Brito, the company's media manager, points out to iProUP.
In this way, 25% of the Mastercard plastics of the bank today are contactless, and Visa 7% of the portfolio, adding credit and debit cards, as provided by the executive.
In the HSBC, another one of those that took the lead, 20% of its customers already have a MasterCard contactless and in segments of medium and high income, which is where they started the replacement of plastics, reaches 40%.
"Since December 2018, all our Mastercard customers receive it," says Marcuti. He adds that, in the case of Visa, it only started in February for Signature and Platinum customers and in the coming months they will reach the rest of their portfolio.
In the Macro they emphasize that all the plastics of both brands that are granted, either by high, renewal or replacement, are of this technology. "So far this year 75,000 Mastercards, 143,000 Visa and 195,000 debit cards have been issued," they add.
Santiago Benvenuto, manager of means of payment of BBVA Francés, supports iProUP: "Migration to contactless technology is an important step in the evolution of payment methods in Argentina".
"The digital transformation brings with it new needs that must be met almost immediately, and to give an answer, we consider it a financial solution that speeds up payments and reduces long lines in stores," he adds.
So far this year, BBVA has issued 50,000 contactless for customers in the Premiun and Premiun World segments. In the entity expect that by the end of 2019 35% of its credit card park is contactless.
The Comafi, on the other hand, obtained the homologation as of April of all the Mastercard and Visa products without contact. "Between both we have approximately 10,000 plastics of this type and we expect to have 70% of the total by the end of the year," they add.
Banco Galicia is also issuing Visa plastics, both debit and credit, contactless, since April, although those of the MasterCard firm have been doing so for more than a year on Black and Platinum cards.
"In the coming months we will be adding to contactless the rest of the cards issued by MasterCard and American Express," said Diego Furno, manager of payment and loyalty media in Galicia, ahead of iProUP.
From the Banco Industrial they point out that since November they are granting their Sapphire clients Visa contactless cards and, from May, they will offer it to their entire portfolio of clients, in new issues. In relation to MasterCard as well, they are in the migration process.
Patagonia, meanwhile, since January is issuing cards with contactless technology for registration, renewals and replacements of Visa Platinum, Visa Signature, MasterCard Platinum, Mastercard Black and Visa Debit products.
"We started with the High Income segment, and then progressively progressed to the rest of the segments," said iProUP from the Brazilian capital entity.
"We are analyzing an action plan to encourage use and generate greater consumption once we have our entire portfolio of products with emission in the new technology," they add.
In the City Bank they say that they started this technology change with Visa Signature and Visa Platinum products starting in January and during the course of the year they will be migrating the rest of the credit cards, adding in addition to the MasterCard brand.
While for now the additions and renewals are already contactless, they say they are analyzing making a massive migration to the stock.
Among the digital banks, Wilobank also has MasterCard and debit credit cards of all categories with a contactless system. "This technology facilitates and speeds transactions," Guillermo Francos, president of the entity, told iProUP.
The last one that joined this crusade was the Nuevo Banco de Chaco, which in April began to offer plastic Mastercard cards of this type as spearhead for the Argentine north.
"We form a strategic alliance between both companies that aims, on the one hand, to strengthen its position in the national financial market and, on the other, to work on the implementation of new technologies that offer greater security and convenience to financial users", concludes Rafael González, owner of the entity.