( CNN ) -- Contactless payments are poised to radically change the landscape for businesses and consumers across Europe , according to the CEO of Visa Europe . Known as `` wave and pay '' or `` tap and go , '' cashless and contactless payments are a way of paying for everyday items like a newspaper or a cup of coffee simply by swiping your card , or increasingly your cell phone , across a reader . The concept is built around saving time for the user , so they do n't need to rummage around in pockets or bags for wallets and purses . Peter Ayliffe , CEO of Visa Europe , predicts the fast-paced movement of the technology around cashless payments will overtake more conventional methods in the next decade . `` I 've made this prediction that by 2020 , more than 50 % of our transactions are going to be on mobile phones , '' he said . `` For 50 years we 've had the piece of plastic . OK , it 's developed , it 's been more secure , we 've added features to it and everything else , but for 50 years I 've carried a piece of plastic around . `` Now , suddenly , I 've realized that in the future , I do n't have to have that piece of plastic , it 's on this wonderful smartphone . So radically that changes your thinking . '' Ayliffe says that in future other ways of paying may give way to the phone as the payment method of choice . `` We 'll never go cashless , because people will always choose how they want to pay . If they want to pay by cash , if they want to pay by card in the future , that 's absolutely fine with me . `` But what we 're trying to do , is say : 'There 's a much more convenient way to pay . ' '' The revolution requires putting in place a whole new set of financial infrastructure at banks and retailers to facilitate the new way to pay . `` We 're the enabler , '' said Ayliffe . `` You 've got to get every retailer to kind of change their front-end systems so they can accept contactless payment , '' he said . `` You 've then got to get every bank to start issuing contactless cards . You 've got to work with the mobile-phone operators , and the hand-set providers to really put all that infrastructure in place . `` Nothing in payments happens quickly . '' Ayliffe said the changes do n't come cheap either . `` It is costly ; it is time consuming to get it all in place . But every now and again you see an opportunity that you think : this is such a fantastic opportunity , and we really really must leverage it . '' Tough economic times in Europe mean consumers are even more aware of what they are spending , but they are also creating a focus on how money is spent , according to Ayliffe . `` The consumer is being very careful about what they 're spending nowadays , '' he said . `` But what 's happening , is the consumer is moving away from inefficient forms of payment , like using the check , like using cash , to the much more convenient and efficient ways of paying . '' Look out -- the contactless revolution could be coming to a retailer near you .
Contactless payments are the future , says Visa Europe CEO . ' Tap and pay ' is a way of paying for products by swiping your card or phone . CEO of Visa Europe , predicts that cashless payments will overtake other methods by 2020 . The future requires putting in place a whole new set of financial infrastructure .