Most Cashless readers probably know very well what cashback is. For those of you who don't - it's the option of withdrawing cash while paying for shopping with a payment card at a store or service point. Up until now all POS operators required card holders who wanted to use cashback to insert their cards into the terminal. This meant that the service was unavailable for customers who used payment stickers or other contactless gadgets, including increasingly popular mobile payment systems such as Apple Pay, G Pay or HCE. But this will no longer be the case.

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Pekao representatives told me at their last press conference that this week, the first three thousand POS terminals managed by the bank will have contactless cashback functionalities. This means you will no longer need to insert plastic into the terminal to withdraw cash while shopping. The service will be available for customers with Mastercard and Visa cards issued by any bank that offers cashback and allows for contactless withdrawals.

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Meanwhile, users of contactless cards and Apple Pay, G Pay and Garmin Pay have been able to make contactless withdrawals at ATMs since last fall. Such transactions are possible at Euronet and Planet Cash machines, among others. The introduction of contactless transactions for cashback means that the functionality of contactless mobile payments is now practically equal to contactless cards. I hope that contactless cashback will soon become common on the Polish market.