what contactless means is,,, in some stores they have a terminal with a window type of thing on the front. if you make a purchase of anything under 15 euro , you just hold the card against the window,and when you hear the beep the transaction is complete. if you lose the card and it is found by a dishonest person who understands what the contactless symbol means they can purchase continually until it is reported by the owner. i exchanged my boi contactless card for a card without the facility, because when i enquired about the security , the bank said that unlike credit cards its my loss until its reported to them as lost or stolen. they have a random type of security , the terminal on a random basis will ask for your pin number , but that might never happen . i also understand that in ireland there is not a lot of companies with the technology (contactless terminals) yet, as the contactless system is only being rolled out here.