FNB customers have made over R14 billion in ‘tap’ or contactless payments in the twelve months to June 2019, with continued month on month growth. This upward trend points to growing appetite for the convenience of contactless payments in South Africa’s consumer and business sectors.
The Bank’s customers processed over 60 million ‘tap’ transactions over the 12 months using their contactless-enabled FNB Credit and Debit Cards. In excess of 46 million transactions were on Debit Cards while Credit Cards accounted for nearly 20 million.
Chief Executive for FNB Retail, Raj Makanjee says, “All our customers have contactless-enabled cards, and this contributes significantly to our efforts to empower customers with convenient and safer ways to pay. Our goal is to minimise reliance on cash by ensuring that customers have access to payment options that accommodate their day to day needs.”
“Contactless cards allow users to tap against a contactless reader to pay for goods and services without the card leaving their hand, resulting in added convenience and security. This technology protects our customers against card related fraud such as card skimming, as they no longer have to insert their card into the point of sale device.”
This time last year, FNB was the first financial services provider in SA to introduce a contactless-enabled ATMs. This means the bank’s customers can also perform transactions at its contactless-enabled ATMs without inserting their card.
Earlier this year, FNB also introduced Scan to Pay on the FNB App, enabling customers to simply make payments by scanning a QR Code. Scan to Pay usage has seen double-digit month on month growth since its launch, complimenting a wide range of convenient Digital Payment alternatives such as FNB Pay on the FNB App, Samsung Pay, FitBit Pay and Garmin Pay.
Makanjee says: “With Black Friday coming up and consumers preparing for a shopping spree, we expect the typical seasonal peak in ‘tap’ payments, as well as Scan to Pay QR code payments on popular online merchants. Merchants which offer customers convenient forms of payments are able to process transactions faster, reducing queue times and risk of basket abandonment.”
“FNB banked customers who want to avoid long queues, whilst enjoying a high level of security, can use our FNB App to buy goods from the comfort of their home using Scan to Pay or their online secure enabled bank cards. In addition, our customers have access to exclusive deals on our eBucks platform and can realise additional value using their eBucks to pay. The eBucks platform makes use of FNB Pay, a convenient and secure checkout process requiring no card detail capture. In the last quarter, over R35 Million was processed using FNB Pay Checkout on the eBucks platform.”