Contactless Payment
Contactless payment enables payments by briefly holding the card, smartphone, or smartwatch near 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 payment method near 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 without a PIN for amounts under EUR 80. For higher amounts, a PIN or biometric confirmation is required.
For Comerciantes, contactless payment reduces waiting times at the checkout, lowers cash-handling costs and improves hygiene (no handling of cash). Contactless payment has become the standard in Switzerland since the COVID-19 pandemic — a large majority of all POS transactions are now contactless.
Contactless payment examples
A customer holds her 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, done.
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 less than 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 tokenization.
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 thus contactless payment. Alternatively, with Tap to Pay you can use your NFC-enabled smartphone as a terminal.
