Where can contactless cards be used?

Contactless technology is now supported at thousands of merchants across the country—from grocery stores and fast-food restaurants to pharmacies, convenience stores, gas stations, transit turnstiles and vending machines. All you have to do is look for the contactless symbol at checkout.

What you’ll learn:

• You can use a contactless-enabled card or device to make payments in stores without physical contact with the point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

• An icon that resembles a sideways Wi-Fi symbol on a POS terminal indicates that you can use a contactless payment method.

• Many retailers accept contactless payments. You can check whether a business accepts them in its Google Maps listing.

Contactless payments can be made, as the name suggests, without your card or mobile device coming into full contact with the point-of-sale (POS) terminal. You can pay by tapping or hovering your card or device over the terminal. You may also hear this payment method be called tap and go or tap to pay. 

A contactless payment works using near-field communication (NFC). This technology uses high-frequency radio waves to enable compatible devices to wirelessly communicate with each other. 

An example of making a contactless payment is tapping your phone to pay at a POS terminal using a digital wallet. You can also tap a contactless credit or debit card to pay the same way.

You can make a contactless payment wherever you see a contactless symbol on the POS terminal. The symbol has four curved vertical lines, increasing in size from left to right—it looks similar to the Wi-Fi symbol but rotated sideways. 

One way to check whether a business accepts contactless payment is to look in Google Maps. In the business’s About section, there’s a heading for Payments. In that section, it may state whether NFC mobile payments are accepted. But keep in mind that not all businesses may be using Google Maps or have this information up to date.

Thousands of businesses accept contactless payments today, so a complete list of stores accepting them may be hard to find. 

Checkout is easier and faster than ever, thanks to contactless credit and debit cards. And these days, you can enjoy the security, speed, simplicity and touch-free convenience of contactless payments at more of your favorite merchants. To see if a business accepts them, try checking its About information in Google Maps, asking an employee or looking for the contactless symbol at checkout. 

Start making digital payments today by adding your Capital One card to a digital wallet on your mobile device.