Contactless Technology.. a Gimmick? Or a Faster Way to Pay for Everyday Items?

If you're a bit like I am -  you'll rarely have loose change and will often use your card to pay for smaller items. I, personally, find doing that a lot easier compared to storing heaps of odd coin and notes in my purse, that's already full of countless loyalty cards, receipts and other bits and bobs. I also prefer knowing that if I loose my purse, I'll be able to cancel and block my card and protect my money that way, where as if I loose my purse with heaps of cash and loose change in - I'll probably never ever see it again..unless, of course it somehow managed to land in the gaze of a very kind, very honest sort of person whom just so happened to decide to do the decent thing and hand it into a police station. But where that would be the ideal situation if I did happen to misplace my purse.. it can't always be relied upon as a reality. 

So, yes, I'm a pay-for-everything-by-debit-card type of girl and so contactless payment is of interest to me. But what exactly is it? Well, conactless technology allows you to pay for most of your transactions that cost up to £20 without even having to enter your PIN. You pay for your goods simply by holding your card in front of the contactless card-reader and pay that way, rather than putting your card into a terminal and entering your PIN. Some banks have now started to include contactless payment when they send you out new debit cards - if your card has the contactless symbol, it has it built in. Though of course, you don'thave to use it unless you want to.And more and more retailers are starting to introduce contactless, so if you wanted to use contactless payment then remember to look out for the contactless symbol wherever you shop. If you don’t have this new technology on your card but would like to order a new one with it, you can just visit your local bank who should be able to arrange it for you, if you're eligible.And so it seems to me like contactless technology isn't just a gimmick - it's something that is being used by thousands of people every single day as a quick and convenient way of paying for cheaper priced items. And when my new card comes through next month it's something I'll certainly be using. Do you use contactless payment to pay for your low priced items? Or do you tend to always carry lots of spare coins around with you? *Post in association with tsb.co.uk
 
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