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Billionth contactless payment made at flower kiosk

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On Thursday 23 March 2017, a new milestone was celebrated at flower kiosk Alice between Amstelveen and Amsterdam: the billionth contactless payment. The number of contactless payments has grown explosively since their introduction in 2014, reaching one billion in less than three years. Debit card payments at the point of sale were introduced in 1990, but the billionth debit card payment was not made until 1997.

Close-up of contactless debit card payment at POS terminal in flower shop, with debit card and sign '1 billion! Pay here too' on the point-of-sale.

More and more people in the Netherlands are paying quickly and easily by briefly holding their debit card or mobile phone against the payment terminal. For amounts up to and including €25, this can usually be done without entering a PIN.

Contactless payments free up time at flower kiosk Alice

The flower kiosk has had a payment terminal for more than ten years. Seven out of ten customers now pay by debit card. When the old terminal needed replacing, shop owner Ton Jansen van Gaalen immediately installed a contactless terminal. “I encourage our customers to pay contactlessly. It is much faster and gives us more time to wrap the flowers beautifully.”

Marcella Engel poses at flower kiosk Alice after making the billionth contactless payment.
Marcella Engel, who made the billionth contactless payment

A quarter of debit card payments are contactless

Contactless payments have now become commonplace, at a growing number of locations and for increasingly large amounts. Piet Mallekoote, Director of the Dutch Payments Association, says: “Once consumers discover contactless payments, they keep using them. The share of contactless payments in the total number of debit card payments has doubled over the past year to more than a quarter.”

A growing number of contactless payments are for amounts over €25 and require a PIN. These higher amounts now account for 10% of contactless payments, compared with 5% a year ago. As a result, the average contactless debit card payment rose from €8.90 to €11.20.

More economical for businesses

Like flower kiosk Alice, many other businesses are embracing contactless payments. They are fast, easy, secure and economical. A contactless payment costs a business an average of 15 euro cents. This includes all indirect costs, such as the payment terminal and rental of the required network connection. A conventional debit card payment costs an average of 19 euro cents, while a cash payment costs as much as 25 euro cents.

Two-thirds of all payment terminals in the Netherlands now support contactless payments. All payment terminals are expected to support contactless payments by 2020. More than 19 million contactless payment instruments – debit cards and phones with payment apps – are currently in circulation.

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