You are here: silicon.com > Financial Services > News

RBS trials contactless RFID-style debit cards

1,000-staff pilot in retail outlets at bank's Edinburgh HQ

Tags: royal bank of scotland, mastercard

By Andy McCue

Published: 15 June 2006 14:05 GMT

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and MasterCard are to trial an RFID-based contactless debit card to replace cash for low-value payments.

The trial of the Oyster card-style payment system begins next week at RBS' head office campus in Edinburgh, which contains a number of retail outlets for its 3,000 staff based there.

The retail stores taking part include Starbucks and Tesco Express. The bank said 1,000 staff have so far applied for one of the specially adapted Maestro chip and PIN debit cards.

An aerial in the card transmits the data to a reader at the retail store and RBS staff taking part in the pilot project will only have to wave their debit card against the reader when paying for goods instead of signing a receipt or entering a PIN number.

RBS spokesman David Outhwaite told silicon.com: "It means consumers don't need to have a pocket full of change and it's a speedier system for retailers."

The system will only be available for transactions up to £10 and there will be random security checks where users will be asked to enter their PIN number to confirm they are the cardholder.

The MasterCard-led initiative has been trialled elsewhere around the world but the RBS pilot, which is due to run for the rest of the year, is the first time it has been used in the UK.

Outhwaite said the aim of the trial is to look at eliminating the need for money for low-value transactions as part of the move towards a "cashless society".

He said: "It's to see how UK consumers use it and how it works in different environments."

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

silicon.com Financial Services
Get the latest financial services news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the FS newsletter today!


  • Jobs
C++ Application Developers Payment Solutions EPOS POS Terminals

Huxley Associates has an ongoing requirement for good solid C++ Developers who have good commercial experience working with EPOS systems, Point of ...

Business Analyst (Credit Card transactions)

You will have recent experience of working within Bank that issues cards on a First Data platform, as well as developing in-house SQL routines to ...

Debit Product Manager

The success full candidate will be degree educated, financial experience in the debit card arena and full knowledge of the retail banking services. ...

Nick Beecham and Belinda Doshi
No more tax breaks for offshoring?
Financial services firms must prepare now for 2010 legal changes

Tim Ferguson
On a new Voyager, tackling fraud and the intellectual challenge
Interview: Nationwide IT director, Peter Stafford

Nick Heath
David Lister on smart grids and why he left RBS
Interview: National Grid CIO

Andy Jones
Why banks will push ahead with offshoring
Comment: Even if they don't want to

Catherine Stagg-Macey
Legacy IT holding back insurers
Comment: Economic crisis means finance giants must step lively

Julian Goldsmith
The City fund manager with no IT department
Q&A: How asset management is embracing the cloud...

Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.




Quick Sitemap Links: