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Contactless payment growth soars in Europe

Research firm RBR expects that contactless payment volume will chart a nine-fold increase between 2014 and 2020.

January 29, 2016

Contactless card payments in Europe grew by 155 percent 2014 — and growth in the market will continue to soar over the next few years, with Visa the dominant player

According to "Global Payments Cards Data and Forecasts to 2020," a new report by RBR , shows Visa payWave claimed a 61 percent share of 1.4 billion contactless payments in the region in 2014.

MasterCard (including Maestro) PayPass comprised the majority of the remainder, accounting for the highest proportion of payments in a number of growing but relatively underdeveloped markets across the region.

These include the Netherlands, where all contactless cards are MasterCard, and Russia, where the number of contactless payments is forecast to rise 65-fold between 2014 and 2020.

The RBR study shows that other schemes — including Amex ExpressPay and Girogo, a German scheme — combined make up less than 2 percent of contactless payments.

RBR forecasts a nine-fold increase in payment volume between 2014 and 2020 as the technology gains traction in more countries in the region.