RBS and McDonalds serve up contactless payments

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The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has launched a touch-and-go card allowing cardholders to pay for everyday items worth less than £10, with the combination of a Formula 1 team and a McDonalds drive-thru in London playing host to the first public payment.

A number of other retailers, including off licence chain Oddbins, plan to start using the technology from next month.

The RBS contactless debit and credit cards work in the same way as the Oyster cards used on London Underground. They simply require customers to swipe or place the card across a reader on RBS terminals in stores that have installed the technology, which uses existing radio waves to transmit data and is similar to the OnePulse card that RBS' rival Barclaycard plans to roll out.

As part of the first public use of the new payment card, a Formula 1 car from the RBS-sponsored AT& T Williams team pulled up at McDonalds' Billingsgate branch and purchased a Big Mac in a transaction that took just a few seconds.

"We are delighted to be facilitating the first public contactless card payment in this country and this is another step for us in modernising and evolving the business," said Ivan Brooks, vice president and chief information officer (CIO) at McDonald's UK.

"We are constantly looking at ways to improve the overall customer experience and the speed and simplicity of paying for McDonald's food in this way is one element of this. Contactless payment will be available in 12 of our London restaurants by the beginning of October and eventually we hope to roll this technology out further across the country."

RBS staff have been trialling the cards at retail outlets in its London and Edinburgh head quarters since June 2006 with more than 52,000 purchases made to date.

Iain Clink, managing director, cards and direct finance at RBS, added: "Having been the first in Europe to trial contactless cards means we know that everyone wins with this new way to pay.

"People love the convenience and speed of the card as well as the freedom from worrying about whether they have enough change for everyday things like morning coffee, a newspaper or a sandwich at lunchtime. Retailers like contactless cards too because they make paying faster which means faster moving queues and happier customers."

In early November, several hundred thousand contactless debit and credit cards will be issued by the bank to RBS, NatWest and MINT customers who live or work in the London roll-out area.

The card, which replaces a customer's standard card, also allows users to make normal chip & PIN purchases above £10.

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