Citibank, Visa launch first contactless credit card in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Citibank and Visa jointly launched yesterday the  first contactless credit card in the Philippines for a faster, more secure and hassle-free payment option.

The “wave, pay and go payment” innovation, called Citibank Visa payWave, is expected to help boost  sales, Citi consumer business manager Bea Tan said.

Citi corners over 20 percent of the country’s credit card market with over one million cardholders. Half of Citi’s revenues come from its consumer banking business including credit card.

With the card innovation, Tan said they expect to register higher growth next year.

“We foresee high double-digit growth targets for our consumer segment,” she said.

Citi Philippines CEO  Batara Sianturi, for his part, said the payWave payment scheme would widen their customer base to reach out to the masses.

“This year, we mark 111 years of doing business in the country.  In that period, we’ve been privileged to bring a number of firsts to our clients. In credit cards, we are proud to have shaped the landscape back in the 1990s when Citi lowered the income requirement to own one.  As a result, we transformed what was a product previously enjoyed only by the affluent, and opened access to the mass consumer,” Sianturi said.

Ian Jamieson, Visa country manager for Philippines and Guam, said contactless payments would spur the country’s evolution towards a cashless society, reducing time waiting in checkout queues for everyday purchases, such as groceries, fast food meals, coffee and movie tickets.

The payWave Visa cards are currently accepted at Metro Manila branches of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Mercury Drug, Eastwood and Luck Chinatown Cinemas and Robinsons Supermarket Express Lanes.

Tan said they hope to roll out the use of the contactless Visa cards to other areas all over the country in the coming months.

With the new Citibank Visa payWave, cardholders can simply wave their cards in front of a visa payWave reader to pay for their goods. They also have the convenience of making transactions without needing to sign for purchases below P2,000 but are given the option to collect the receipt.

For low-ticket items, cardholder signature is not required.

The credit card is also equipped with newer chip technology that gives enhanced protection against fraud due to cloning.