MasterCard and Visa Agree to a Common Contactless Communications Protocol

MasterCard and Visa, have reached an agreement to share a common communications protocol and associated testing requirements for radio frequency-based contactless payments at the point of sale.

This protocol is based on the MasterCard PayPass ISO/IEC 14443 Implementation Specification. Contactless payments, like MasterCard PayPass and Visa Contactless programs, allow cardholders to speed through checkout by paying with a simple tap or wave, eliminating the need for customers to hand over their payment card to a merchant or fumble for cash and coins. The agreement means that cards and terminals supporting MasterCard and Visa contactless payment applications will conform to the same communications protocol and undergo equivalent testing. The use of a common protocol for conducting contactless payments will enable vendors to streamline product development and testing, leading to reduced implementation costs and faster time to market for financial institutions and merchants. With a common protocol in place, merchants will also have the assurance that a single point of sale terminal may support multiple payment brands and will require less time for terminal programming and testing. Contactless payments significantly increase convenience for consumers and are ideal for quick payment environments where speed is essential, such as quick service restaurants, gas stations, drug stores, supermarkets and movie theaters. It also opens up new opportunities for accepting card-based payments in unattended sales environments, such as vending machines and tollways. The common protocol specification is based on international standards (ISO 14443) and has already been trialed and market-proven by MasterCard.