Caitríona Redmond: Using your bank card? Here's why contactless or digital wallet is the way to go

Stay card-safe and trouble-free

The contactless pad sitting beside the till is where you tap your bank card or, more and more these days, your phone or smartwatch.

If I told you that over 1.6 billion contactless point-of-sale payments were made in shops, restaurants, and other retailers within a 12-month period up to June 2025, would you believe me? Not only is this statement true, according to the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) recent payments monitor, but these payments were valued at €28.3 billion.

At this stage, nearly everyone knows the contactless pad sitting beside the till. It’s where you tap your bank card or, more and more these days, your phone or smartwatch. The BPFI reckons that mobile or digital wallet taps now make up over 58% of all contactless payments in Ireland as of the second quarter of 2025. That’s a fair jump in a short space of time.

When you tap your bank card, there is a catch: you can only spend up to €50 per transaction. That is the rule Visa set for contactless card payments here. Go over that and you will have to slot your card into the reader and punch in your pin. But with digital wallets, there is no such limit, which makes tapping your phone or watch way handier than messing about with cards and keypads.

Phone makers have jumped on near-field communication, or NFC, tech to make all this possible. Here in Ireland, the two main digital wallets are Apple Pay and Google Wallet. When you use them correctly, they can actually be safer than fishing your card out of your wallet every time you pay.

Whether you have an Android Phone or an iPhone, the method followed is remarkably similar. To add a bank card to your digital wallet, you open the wallet in the settings app of your chosen phone, then scan the card to add the information. The application will then communicate with your card provider, and your bank will request that you authorise the use of your card. Typically, this involves entering your multi-factor authentication password in the bank’s app or responding to a text message.

Once added, your card details are encrypted and stored locally on your phone. The card information is not uploaded to the cloud and is protected behind your phone’s password. That’s whatever method you use to open your phone: Facial or fingerprint recognition, combined with a series of numbers or a pattern.

When you go to pay at the till, your phone uses a token and never shares your actual information when making a payment. In fact, this token can be used only once. Even in a worst-case scenario where a payment terminal is hacked, your information cannot be obtained because this token will have expired. Remember though, retailers can still ask you to unlock the iPhone in front of them to prove your identity no matter the purchase price.

And, if you are shopping online, many websites and apps now let you pay with your digital wallet as well. That way, you are not typing in card numbers that could get grabbed by dodgy software or accidentally stored somewhere they should not be.

Your digital wallet also keeps track of your spending, so it is easy to check what went through and how much you spent. Even if your phone has no signal, as long as you did the tap, the payment will go through as soon as you are back online.

I have mentioned devices a few times here because a digital wallet is not just limited to mobile phones.

Many sports watches, such as Apple Watch or Garmin, can also hold a bank card’s information and operate in a very similar manner. They can’t copy your card from the phone though, so you will need to set both up separately. It’s a handy life hack if you forget your phone or are wrestling with bags, plus kids, and just want to tap from your wrist without having to fumble around to find your mobile.

You may be wondering at this point, what happens if your phone is lost or stolen? This is where the “Find My iPhone” or “Find My Device” feature comes in very handy. No matter where you are in the world, all you need to do is log into this account online and either lock your phone or wipe all the data remotely if there is no hope of retrieval. Without your biometric information any scammer would find it exceedlingly difficult to get past your phone’s security settings and access your bank card, so long as you are proactive and use these tools straight away.

Travelling abroad, a digital wallet will work just the same as at home everywhere you see the contactless symbol but your bank may add currency fees. Best practice is to keep a backup bank card in a safe place, have memorised your PIN and have a way of contacting your card issuer if anythign goes wrong.

For everyday life, those digital wallets can also contain loyalty cards, saving the card juggle and time when passing through the checkout. I have all my supermarket loyalty cards and membership cards saved to my wallet and it saves me so much time.

Redmond recommends

The CE mark certifies that the product bought meets safety, health, and environmental protection requirements of EU member states. In the leadup to Christmas shopping and buying Halloween decorations, please check your packaging and devices for the minimum safety requirements. The CE mark should be printed on the label or even directly onto electrical items.

If you can’t see the mark and have bought it in Ireland, or have bought online and received a non compliant item, you can contact the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on ccpc.ie Please keep an eye out on their product recalls page and I also recommend reading their safe Halloween tips so you don’t have a frightful Halloween.