Will there ever be a contactless debit card from Ulster Bank?
If you bank with AIB, KBC or the Bank of Ireland you’ll have been able to use their contactless debit cards for the last couple of years.
However Ulster Bank in the Republic of Ireland do not offer a contactless debit card. They have contactless on their ROI credit card, and they have it on their Northern Ireland debit card, but the bank have given no indication when it will be available on ROI debit cards.
It’s annoying for Ulster Bank customers, who can’t take advantage of the convenience of contactless payments.
I couldn’t agree more!
It’s ironic that the first contactless payment in Ireland took place in the Ulster Bank staff restaurant six years ago: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/companies/2010/02/04/contactless-payments-to-debut-in-irish-marketplace-visa-boss
They seem fairly on the ball with other tech, Touch ID to open their iPhone app and Apple pay in the UK. There has to be a reason but they’ll loose customers.
Still no sign of a contactless debit card!
Got one in post today actually
Yeah, my wife got one in the post today as well.
More on their contactless debit cards here: http://digital.ulsterbank.ie/personal/current-accounts/contactless-debit-cards.html
AIB and KBC have both launched Android Pay – contactless for your smartphone. I suppose it’s a bit of stretch to expect Ulster Bank to launch this too!
The availability of contactless payment on Ulster Bank cards seems to depend upon the type of card you have. The bank issues two different but very similar types of card – a service card, and a debit card. The service card is the only one that has contactless enabled. Their debit card doesn’t support it. And I’m not sure what the criteria is for issuing a service or debit card to customers. I have two current accounts, and have a service card for one account, and a debit card for the other.