El Corte Inglés, the Spanish department store, has installed thousands of contactless payment terminals for customers to make contactless card or mobile phone payments.

With 5,200 of its terminals already replaced with the new Visa payment machines, the group predict that 60% of its terminals will have the new technology by the end of 2014.

The technology will allow customers to make payments worth up to EUR 20 by tapping their contactless card or NFC enabled mobile phone. Those wishing to pay for goods with a value above EUR 20 will also be required to enter their pin number in the usual way.

Spain is seeing fast growth in the use of “Tap & Go” payments. In November 2013 there were 2.1 million Visa contactless transactions within Spain, an increase of nearly 400% compared to the previous year.

“It is very important that leading retail groups, such as El Corte Inglés, commit themselves with the innovation of payment technologies, so that their clients can benefit from the convenience, speed and security offered by contactless payments.” Luis García Cristobal, GM, Spain and Portugal, Visa.

Source: Finextra