ASB PayTag brings contactless payments to your mobile phone

Monday, 14 April 2014, 4:45 pm
Press Release: ASB Bank

Media Release

14 April 2014

ASB PayTag brings convenient contactless payments to your mobile phone

ASB PayTag turns any phone into a contactless payment device

ASB is taking another a giant leap towards pervasive mobile banking with the launch of ASB PayTag, a new technology allowing convenient and secure credit and debit card payments with a simple tap of your mobile phone.

ASB PayTag is a Visa payWave sticker that contains an ASB contactless chip card. With the sticker attached to any mobile phone, customers will be able to wave and go to pay for goods, in exactly the same way that the existing ASB Visa payWave cards work, eliminating the need to carry a physical wallet. The value of ASB PayTag is that it integrates seamlessly with ASB’s mobile banking app giving customers the ability to link the sticker to their preferred payment account. Customers have unprecedented levels of control, allowing them to self-select the account from which the payment is debited.

“ASB PayTag will bring a whole new level of convenience to paying on-the-go, allowing customers to pay for things simply, easily and securely while out-and-about,” says Russell Jones, ASB’s Executive General Manager, Technology & Innovation. “Customers simply wave their mobile phone over a payment terminal to make a secure payment. There’s no longer any need to carry a bulky wallet or even a physical credit card. The fact that ASB PayTag can be used with any mobile phone means that a wide range of customers can now turn their phone into a fully controllable, contactless payment device. It’s another example of the smartphone becoming the Swiss Army knife of banking.”

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“Security remains the most important priority for ASB. As with all our credit card transactions, ASB PayTag transactions will be protected against fraud, effectively making this new technology safer than carrying around cash,” says Mr Jones.

Caroline Ada, Visa’s Country Manager for New Zealand and South Pacific, says ASB PayTag offers a simple, secure and convenient way for New Zealanders to pay.

“We want all Kiwis to be able to use mobile technology to pay and better manage their finances, while getting all the benefits of Visa – convenience, security, reliability and global acceptance,” says Ms Ada.

Furthermore, the sticker can be used on any mobile phone including non-NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled phones. Planned improvements for ASB PayTag include the ability to turn the sticker on and off, putting control for enabling contactless payments in the hands of the customer.

Contactless payments have proven to be around three times faster[1] than paying with cash and contactless is ideal for transactions under $80, as no signature or PIN is required. Contactless payments are continuing to grow in popularity as customers across the world embrace the greater freedom and flexibility it allows them.

“As the New Zealand mobile payments market evolves ASB will continue to explore new technologies and look at more ways we can offer our customers an array of convenient choices in making payments from their mobile devices,” says Mr Jones.

A pilot of the technology is scheduled to begin in May with a commercial launch planned for Q3 2014.

How will ASB PayTag work?

• Customers will need an ASB Visa debit card.

• Log in to ASB’s FastNet Classic internet banking, register for PayTag and nominate the card to make payments from.

• The ASB PayTag sticker will arrive unactivated in the post.

• Log into FastNet Classic or call the ASB Contact Centre to activate the pin for PayTag.

• Place the PayTag sticker on the outside of a mobile phone.

• Make payments by ‘waving’ the sticker over Visa payWave contactless enabled payment terminals.

ENDS

[1] Visa Smart Card Deployment Study, Taiwan and Malaysia, Deloitte 2006.

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