Barclays contactless debit cards

What is "contactless"?

Contactless is an additional way in which to use your debit card. When making payments of £10 or less, rather than putting your card into a Chip & Pin machine and typing in your PIN, contactless gives you the facility to hold your card next to the reader to pay. You won't need to enter your PIN meaning payment is made in less than a second. So when you're grabbing a coffee or a paper, your transaction will be made even quicker by using your contactless Barclays debit card.

You'll still use the same Barclays debit card for both contactless and Chip & PIN transactions. Contactless payments will be debited from your existing Barclays account in the same way as Chip & PIN payments and cash withdrawals, so it is important to ensure that you have sufficient cleared funds available in your account, which includes any agreed overdraft and / or Personal Reserve, to prevent any unexpected fees being charged to your account.

How do I use it?

To make a payment using your Barclays contactless debit card, simply hold your card next to the reader at the till when prompted to do so by the retailer. The payment will then be confirmed by a single beep (in addition to the illumination of four indicator lights and / or a display message confirming a successful transaction). Just make sure your card is within a few centimetres of the reader for the contactless facility to work.

 

Contactless payment can only be used for a transaction of £10 or less, so for anything more you'll be asked to use your debit card with a PIN in the usual way. If you make several contactless transactions in a row you will be prompted to enter your PIN for security and validation purposes.

To help speed up your transaction you won't receive a debit card receipt, as you do when using Chip & PIN. (A debit card receipt is the receipt showing your obscured or abbreviated card details.) However, you will still be given a till receipt by the retailer as proof of purchase (but you can still ask for a debit card receipt if you would like one).

It's fine to keep and use your contactless debit card while it is in your wallet with your other bank cards, but just remember that if you have more than one contactless card in your wallet (eg. Barclaycard OnePulse or Oyster) you will need to remove the relevant card in order for it to be read.

You don't need to worry about "topping up" your contactless debit card; your card is linked to your current account and funds will be debited from this account, as they are with Chip & PIN transactions. It is important to ensure you have sufficient cleared funds available in your account, which includes any agreed overdraft and or Personal Reserve, to prevent any unexpected fees being charged to your account.

Where can I use it?

Please note our contactless technology isn't compatible with the equivalent system in the U.S. or Canada but you can still use your debit card for transactions there.

Don't forget, you can still use your Barclays debit card in the usual Chip & PIN way in millions of retailers worldwide.

Why is Barclays making its debit cards contactless?

At Barclays, we are committed to leading technological innovation in UK banking and in 1987 we launched 'Connect' - the UK's first debit card.

Barclays are now leading the way in introducing contactless technology and encouraging retailers and consumers to adopt contactless payment. There are now plenty of terminals live throughout the UK and many more are on the way.

We are proud to be the first UK bank to announce that it is launching contactless technology across the majority of its debit card range in early 2009, showing our commitment to this secure innovation that will increase customer choice and convenience.

Is contactless the same as Visa's payWave and MasterCard's PayPass®?

Yes, it's the same. Both terms refer to contactless payment systems and use the same technology standards.