(10 April 2025 – Australia) CBA and Westpac are considering removing 16-digit numbers from credit and debit cards.
Australia could be the first global market to remove credit card numbers across the board after AMP Bank created Australia’s first numberless facing debit card this year for its new business bank.
Mastercard, aligned with CBA and Westpac, released a five-year strategic plan which presented numberless cards being accompanied by a new biometric checkout process referred to as “Click to Pay”.
Visa, which works with ANZ and NAB, also has the technology to issue numberless cards but in contrast with its rival it is not pushing its banks to do so.
“The move only focuses on one type of fraud. It will also be clunky for customers, who will need to juggle mobiles and banking apps to make an online purchase, and it may also cause compatibility issues with some mobile wallets” commented Payment Services Consultant Brad Kelly.