Gemalto to support Spain’s first large scale roll out of contactless EMV payments

Optelio contactless EMV cards

Gemalto is providing Spanish bank, La Caixa, with personalisation and production services to support its roll out of Optelio contactless EMV cards in Spain’s first large scale deployment of contactless payment (view press release). The Gemalto card will enable contactless payments with a swipe or tap against the reader; a PIN code will be required for purchases over EUR20. The bank initially aims to roll out one million contactless cards in Barcelona by the end of the year and is looking to migrate its entire card portfolio to contactless technology throughout Spain by the end of 2015. To support this goal, the bank is simultaneously developing a contactless infrastructure with 15,000 merchants equipped with contactless payment terminals and 500 ATMs featuring built-in contactless readers.

With this new deployment, la Caixa is positioning itself at the forefront of innovation,” said SVP of Secure Transactions at Gemalto, Gabrielle Bugat. “They are setting up the contactless ecosystem which will help educate and prepare the market for NFC mobile payment and Gemalto is committed to supporting la Caixa in its long terms strategy.”

Last year La Caixa was awarded the prize of the world’s most innovative bank at the Global Banking Innovation Awards.

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