McDonald's Australia today said it has partnered with Visa to bring consumers an even faster way to pay for their meals.

The largest quick service restaurant chain in the world is the latest company to introduce Visa payWave, which allows transactions of $100 or less merely by placing or tapping the card on a reader near the register at checkout, in 816 McDonald's stores across the country.

Visa General Manager, Chris Clark, said Visa payWave makes everyday transactions faster and more convenient. "It's exciting to see one of the world's largest and most successful Quick Service Restaurants offer this service to Australian customers."

"Visa payWave-enabled cards are as secure as any other Visa chip card and carry the same multiple layers of security, including Visas Zero Liability, which ensures Visa cardholders are not responsible for fraudulent or unauthorised transactions.

"In addition, with Visa payWave, the card never leaves your hand, which reduces the risk of fraud."

Henry Shiner, Chief Information Officer, McDonald's Australia added, "This is just one more efficiency that we have introduced to improve the customer experience. With Visa payWave, customers will see speedier transactions and they can pick up their food with just a wave of their card. Not only does this offer our customers more flexibility in the way they pay, it also provides them with a highly secure payment method.

"We expect the rollout will be complete across all our stores by the end of November 2010."

With Visa payWave, the card does not need to be swiped by the sales assistant, and no signature or PIN (Personal Identification Number) is required for purchases under AU$100, which makes it a faster way to pay while still being a secure Visa transaction.

Mr Clark said contactless payments would increasingly replace the use of cash because of their speed and convenience, with National Australia Bank, ANZ and Macquarie Bank now issuing cards featuring Visa payWave.