McDonald’s is considering letting customers pay by waving a credit or debit card over a reader.

The scheme could help to drive contactless payment technologies into mainstream use.

The fast food giant wants to offer the service within the next few years, building on a new payment infrastructure to allow credit and debit card payments, due for completion next month.

The system supports a range of options, including pre-paid smartcards, says McDonald’s chief information officer Ivan Brooks.

‘Contactless technology suits the high-volume, low-value transactions that are most popular at McDonald’s,’ said Brooks.

‘I have no doubt that people will carry less change in the next five to 10 years because contactless payment is more convenient.

‘For the first time, we have a platform in place that allows us to consider these technologies.’

The banking industry has already agreed a national standard for contactless cards to pay for items under £10. Trials are due to begin in participating London shops this summer.

McDonald’s is the ideal retailer to encourage consumers to pay in new ways, says Sandra Quinn, spokeswoman at banking industry body Apacs.

‘The majority of its transactions are under £10, so contactless payments will cover most sales. And because it is a name that everyone recognises, to have McDonald’s involved would drive take-up,’ she said.

The move will prompt other retailers to use contactless systems, says the British Retail Consortium.

‘When launching a new technology, many retailers will look to a big firm such as McDonald’s to monitor its success, particularly smaller outlets such as the corner shops,’ said a spokesman.

McDonald’s has been installing a new debit and credit card payment infrast ructure at a rate of 120 sites a week for the past three months and expects to finish installing systems at its 1,200 outlets next month.

The firm has been slow to deploy the technology because traditional card payments were not suited to low-value transactions. It is working with hardware supplier Streamline and software supplier NCR and using an open-source development platform called Jade.