By developing Dankort for smartphones, another important milestone in the development of the Dankort has been reached. The Danes will have new and even better options when paying with their smartphones, and the Dankort will be future-proofed as the most preferred method of payment in Denmark.
"A growing number of consumers want to pay with their smartphone when shopping. That's why we, along with the retail industry, have chosen this new functionality, which will work on the terminals that the shops are using today. Having Dankort on your smartphone will make the everyday lives of both Danes and the shops a little easier and Dankort will remain the cheapest and most efficient method of payment. This is yet another step in the right direction towards a cashless society," says Market Director in Dansk Erhverv, Henrik Hyltoft.
The consumers will now have an extra option. It is still possible to pay with the physical payment card – either the traditional way by reading the chip or the newer contactless payment. 700,000 new contactless Dankort are already in the Danish wallets and numerous Danes have already tried contactless payments. More than 50% of all payments with Dankort are from terminals that are enabled and ready to receive contactless payments. From next autumn Danes will be able to download an app and pay with their Dankort using a smartphone in the same way as they pay with a contactless Dankort.
"As more and more Danes use their contactless Dankort and the shop assistants become more familiar with the new method of payment, it becomes easy and fast to make contactless payments. From next autumn all you need to do to make a contactless payment is to hold your smartphone over the terminal's card reader. If you shop for less than DKK 200 you don't need to enter a PIN," says Jeppe Juul-Andersen, Senior Vice President in Nets and responsible for Dankort.
Available on all smartphones
In order to make it possible to get Dankort on as many Danish smartphones as possible, Nets will develop a solution in two parts. The approximately two million smartphones with an active NFC function can be used for payments just as the contactless cards. Smartphones without NFC need a solution based on QR codes and Bluetooth, and shops will have to adjust their terminal equipment in order to accept payments from these types of smartphones.
"A growing number of services are gathered on the smartphone, and with Dankort on the smartphone as well, a new and digital universe of payments for consumers and shops appears," says Henrik Hyltoft, Market Director in Dansk Erhverv, and Jeppe Juul-Andersen adds:
"Dankort is the most preferred method of payment in Denmark, and one of the strengths of Dankort is that almost everyone has one in their wallet, and almost all shops accept it. It is important to us that payment with Dankort on smartphones to the greatest extent possible can happen on the terminal equipment that the shops already have today," the Dankort Director concludes.
Facts about security and contactless payment
The contactless card technology in smartphones is based on a token. This means that the information in the phone, which is exchanged between the phone and the terminal, does not contain sensitive data. The phone generates a token, i.e. a numeric value, which Nets converts into a payment transaction. The payment takes place - as is the case with the new physical Dankort - completely without physical contact between the phone and the terminal. The contactless payment is completed by holding the mobile in front of the contactless symbol on the terminal. The display on the terminal will show when the payment has been approved.
If the customers make a purchase worth less than DKK 200, they don't have to enter the PIN. Dankort on the mobile will be a convenient alternative to cash, which is often preferred when you make small purchases. According to the central bank of Denmark, Dankort is by far the cheapest method of payment for the society and the social costs by using Dankort in the shops are significantly lower than payments with cash or international cards. Today, there are issued more than 5.5 million Dankort and Visa/Dankort, and in 2015 more than 1.2 billion payments with Dankort in Danish shops are expected. For further information on the new Dankort and the advantages for both cardholder and shops please see www.dankort.dk
For further information:
Henrik Hyltoft, Marketing Director, Dansk Erhverv
Cell: 40 74 32 76, e-mail: hhy@danskerhverv.dk
Søren Winge, Head of Press Relations, Group Communication, Nets A/S
Cell: 29 48 26 46, e-mail: swing@nets.eu
