Okuzeka
Finance & Banking vocabulary · Payments & Cards

Contactless payment

Meaning in finance & banking, with examples

nounCore term

In finance & banking, contactless payment means: Paying by holding a card, phone or watch near a card reader, without inserting the card or, for small amounts, entering a PIN.

In Turkish: temassız ödeme

How it is used

Used in retail payments and card product teams. Customers tap or wave their card; cards and phones use NFC technology. Each country sets a contactless limit, and above it a PIN is needed.

Example sentences

  1. Most card payments in our cafés are now contactless payments.

  2. Contactless payment is quicker, but the card asks for a PIN above the limit.

Common collocations

  • contactless payment limit
  • contactless card
  • tap to pay
  • make a contactless payment
  • debit cardA card linked to your bank account that takes money directly from your balance when you pay or use a cash machine.
  • credit cardA plastic or digital card that lets you buy now and pay the bank later. You can spend up to a limit and pay interest if you do not repay the full amount on time.
  • digital walletAn app or online service that stores payment cards or money so that you can pay with a phone, watch or computer.
  • POS terminalA device at a point of sale, such as a shop counter, that reads payment cards or phones and sends the payment for approval.

More terms: Payments & Cards

Practise with graded reading

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not financial advice.