Contactless Payment
Contactless payment enables payments by briefly holding the card, smartphone or smartwatch against an NFC-enabled terminal — fast, secure and without a PIN for small amounts.
Contactless Payment
Contactless payment uses NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to trigger payments by briefly holding a means of payment close to a terminal. The transaction takes less than a second, making it significantly faster than chip and PIN or cash.
Customers can pay contactlessly with NFC-enabled credit and debit cards, smartphones (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay) and smartwatches. In Switzerland, contactless payment is possible for amounts under EUR 80 without a PIN. For higher amounts, a PIN or biometric confirmation is required.
For Comerciantes, contactless payment reduces waiting times at the checkout, lowers cash handling efforts and improves hygiene (no handling of cash). Contactless payment has become the standard in Switzerland since the COVID-19 pandemic — the majority of all POS transactions are now contactless.
Contactless payment examples
A customer holds their Visa debit card to the terminal. EUR 35 are debited contactlessly in less than a second — without a PIN.
A customer pays with Apple Pay: hold the iPhone to the terminal, confirm with Face ID, and that is it.
A bakery switches to contactless payment and halves the average waiting time at the checkout.
Contactless payment FAQ
What is contactless payment?
Contactless payment uses NFC technology: card, smartphone or smartwatch are briefly held to the terminal, and the payment is processed in under a second — without inserting the card.
Is contactless payment secure?
Yes. Contactless payments use the same encryption as chip payments. For higher amounts, a PIN or biometric confirmation is required. Mobile wallets offer additional security through tokenisation.
Up to what amount is contactless payment possible without a PIN?
In Switzerland, the limit is EUR 80. For higher amounts or after several consecutive contactless payments, a PIN is required. With Apple Pay/Google Pay, biometric confirmation is always required.
Do I need a special terminal for contactless payment?
All modern card terminals support NFC and therefore contactless payment. Alternatively, with Tap to Pay you can use your NFC-enabled smartphone as a terminal.
