A leader in contactless payments, Costa Rica is now the first country in the region to launch this secure and cost-effective acceptance solution

MIAMI - September 19th - Contactless payments have exploded in popularity worldwide over the past few years. With a fully developed contactless ecosystem, Costa Rica became the first country in Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) to announce the implementation of Tap on Phone, a payment acceptance solution that allows merchants to receive payments from any contactless-enabled card or mobile wallet right on their own NFC-enabled Android™ device.

Promerica is the first bank in the region to implement and process real merchant transactions with the solution. It has worked with Mastercard, who continues to be at the forefront in the design of security requirements for Tap on Phone.

By enabling contactless transactions regardless of the payment method (card, phone, wristband or any other contactless enabled device) Tap on Phone offers a powerful tool to advance electronic payments adoption as it reduces acquirers operational costs for sourcing, selling and maintaining M-POS for merchants.

“The investment made by the payments industry in Costa Rica and the Central Bank's vision of reducing cash have built an ideal contactless payment ecosystem in the country and created the right conditions for Mastercard to enable and make the first implementation of this kind in LAC. Thanks to this collective effort, Costa Rica is now bringing to the market this technology that contributes to the elimination of cash and promotes financial inclusion”, said Brice Van de Walle, Vice-President of Acceptance Products for Latin America & Caribbean.

“At Mastercard, we are working with our partners to increase the acceptance footprint in the region by leveraging the contactless expansion. Tap on Phone brings an enhanced consumer experience and gives small businesses the ability to accept in-person payments quickly by using a device they already have— their phone”, added de Walle.

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