The share of contactless payments in the total number of card payments in the first quarter was 91.1 percent – according to a report by the National Bank of Poland. The indicator crossed the 90 percent threshold for the first time in history. In March, the contactless payment limit without using a PIN was raised from PLN 50 to PLN 100.
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The central bank emphasized that “the most noticeable change in the functioning of the payment card market in Poland that took place during the first quarter of this year, and resulting from the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, mainly in March 2020, was the change in the functioning of contactless payments “.
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In March 2020 the limit has been raised up to which contactless card payment does not require a PIN code, from 50 to 100 zlotys.
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As indicated, the purpose of the change was to increase “the scope of payments that allow customers to limit contact with cashiers and devices equipped with a keyboard for entering the PIN code at retail and service outlets”.
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Contactless payments
The National Bank of Poland pointed out that “in recent years there has been a real revolution on the Polish market in the way payment cards are used, consisting in a huge increase in the number of contactless cards and an increase in the number of contactless transactions.” At the end of March this year contactless cards accounted for 86.4 percent of all payment cards. In Poland, in the first period there were 37.3 million payment cards with the function of contactless payments.
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In the first quarter of 2020, there were 1 billion 208 million contactless transactions. This represents a decrease of 62 million, or 5 percent, compared to the previous quarter.
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In the period from January to March this year, the share of contactless payments in the total number of non-cash card payments amounted to 91.1 percent.
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The industry portal Cashless.pl pointed out that this was the first time in history when the share exceeded 90 percent and at the same time one of the largest quarterly increases in the history of research. “One of the factors that decided about such a large increase in the popularity of contactless payments were probably epidemic factors and fear of the risk of coronavirus infection,” we read. The previous record was set in the fourth quarter of last year and was 89.4 percent.
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