MasterCard in a PayPass trial in Switzerland

McDonald's, with its European headquarters in Crissier, Switzerland, is a key partner in a new MasterCard PayPass pilot in Switzerland, organized by Swiss banking company, the Aduno Group. Consumers will simply tap their new Aduno Group MasterCard card on a PayPass reader to make a purchase in selected McDonald's restaurants across Switzerland. The innovative technology allows small value purchases under EUR 25 to be completed quickly, securely and easily, without the need for consumers to fumble for cash and coins, swipe a card or sign a receipt.

Selected merchants in three Swiss cities, Zurich, Lausanne and Lugano, and 1,000 cardholders from existing Aduno Group customers will take part in the pilot project. After this initial pilot phase, the market launch of MasterCard PayPass in Switzerland is planned for later this year by the Aduno Group.

McDonald's has already played a key role in the launch of MasterCard PayPass in the USA. Now, PayPass cards are accepted 46,000 merchant locations around the world, including McDonald's, Starbucks, 7-Eleven, CVS, Duane Reade, Sheetz and Regal Entertainment Group. In Europe, the First PayPass trial was launched in 2006 with Garanti Bank, in Turkey (cf. Smart Insights #07-02), and other pilots took place with RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) in Edinburgh and London (cf. SI #06-25), and in France, in Strasbourg (cf. SI #06-43) and Toulouse.

Aduno's motto is clear: "welcome in the cashless era". Aduno Group includes Aduno, the #2 Swiss acquirer with contracts with 48,000 merchants, and the #2 card issuer in Switzerland, Viseca, issuing the whole range of both MasterCard and Visa cards, with 980,000 cardholders.