Commercial Bank, a Qatar-based private bank, has launched contactless debit cards in the country on the globally accepted Visa and MasterCard NFC platform.

The new contactless debit card enables the banks’ customers to pay with ‘tap and go’ feature at NFC terminals and also use it as a normal debit card at point of sale terminals.

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Debit cardholders need not enter a PIN or sign receipts for transactions up to QR100 ($26) per day. They can also use the debit card as a normal chip and PIN card for transactions higher than the contactless daily limit.

Commercial Bank’s contactless debit cards will be available in early November and followed by contactless credit cards and pay cards. The bank also intends to launch digital wallet in spring 2018.

Commercial Bank Group CEO Joseph Abraham said: “The potential for contactless payments in Qatar is very exciting due to our young and tech savvy population.

“Qatar’s movement towards a digital payment ecosystem, the forthcoming World Cup in 2022, and huge transport infrastructure investments such as the Doha Metro where contactless payments are expected to feature.

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“All of these points will drive the use of contactless payments in Qatar and Commercial Bank will be leading the way to enable the use of this technology.”

Commercial Bank EGM head of consumer banking Amit Sah said: “Commercial Bank holds a leading position with acquiring retailers and merchants, which are the key segment for contactless payments, and Commercial Bank has focused on driving both the issuance of contactless cards to increase the number of customers, as well as drive the penetration of contactless acceptance devices.”