Lloyds TSB has jumped on the contactless payments bandwagon and introduced the technology on its VISA debit cards to current account customers within the M25.

New and replacement VISA debit cards issued by the bank will now feature the contactless capability, allowing customers to pay for small purchases of up to £15.

Over 50,000 contactless card readers already accept contactless payments, and the list of retailers with this technology is growing.

Lloyds TSB is expecting to issue around one million VISA contactless debit cards in 2011.

“Contactless VISA debit cards provide an efficient alternative for customers making small purchases,” commented Philip Robinson, head of current account products at Lloyds TSB.

“With the increasing trend towards debit card usage over cash, contactless debit cards provide customers with convenient payment options. The launch of contactless debit cards is another example of how Lloyds TSB is responding to customer needs through innovation.”

Dan Wass, head of debit cards at Barclays, said he was pleased to see more card issuers in the contactless market.

"We welcome the announcement from Lloyd's TSB that it plans to rollout one million contactless cards by the end of 2011. A growing number of card issuers and banks are following the lead of Barclays and Barclaycard which has already issued 11.4 million contactless cards in the UK. This growing user base means that contactless transaction volumes continue to grow rapidly, doubling every six to eight months,” he said.

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