Cabcharge adds contactless to taxis

Cabcharge has announced that it has nearly finished rolling out "contactless" technology to save time and beef up customer security.

(Credit: Cabcharge)

The taxi payment processing and systems company said that it will start phasing out its current system and issuing new cards for its customers when its new system roll-out is completed. Currently the VeriFone contactless PINpads have been rolled out to all states except Victoria.

"Contactless technology is specifically designed for low value transactions ... this is a perfect match to our industry," Cabcharge's executive chairman Reg Kermode said in the company's annual report released last week. "For the majority of trips we expect contactless to be a great time saver, yet highly secure, with the customer's card never leaving their hand."

However, saving time wasn't the entire reason for going contactless, according to the chairman. "It is also about fraud prevention. It has unfortunately become all too common and easy for criminals to copy magnetic stripe cards — a technique called skimming," said Cabcharge's executive chairman Reg Kermode in the company's annual report.

Citibank Australia CEO Roy Gori said recently that the highest levels of card fraud occurred at petrol stations and in taxis.