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An Atlanta test of mobile-phone payments, mobile downloads, and other applications, announced today, is the first major U.S. test of near-field communication (NFC) for functions like contactless payments, but it won't be the last. Mohammad Khan, president and founder of ViVOtech Inc., which is supplying handset-based wallet software and contactless …
Read More »Absence of Fee Break Could Hinder RFID’s Penetration of Cash
The U.S. cash-payment market is enormous, but banks' hopes of penetrating it with so-called contactless technology could falter if high acceptance costs spur merchants to look at alternative electronic payment methods. That's one among a number of findings in a new study released this week on the market for transactions …
Read More »Is Peppercoin Eyeing Opportunities in Hot Contactless Market?
Could Peppercoin Inc., a processor of micropayment transactions both online and in card-present venues, be eyeing opportunities in the hot market for contactless payments? Though he refuses to comment on whether the company has any such plans, Mark Friedman, the Waltham, Mass.-based company's chief executive, he has clearly watched developments …
Read More »Chase Brings Contactless Payments to the Northeast Corridor
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is extending its rollout of contactless payment technology to the populous northeast corridor of the country. Its Chase Bank U.S.A. N.A. said today it will begin sending new cards equipped with chips and tiny radio transmitters to some 2.9 million cardholders this week. In addition, about …
Read More »HSBC Joins the Ranks of Issuers of Contactless Debit Cards
HSBC Bank USA N.A. has become the third U.S. bank to add contactless payment technology to its debit cards. The bank said today it has begun issuing MasterCard-branded debit cards equipped with MasterCard's PayPass system, and plans to issue 1 million of the cards by the end of the year. …
Read More »Chase Brings ‘Blink’ to Loyalty Cards with Contactless United Card
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has installed contactless payment technology in the cobranded Visa credit card it issues with United Airlines Inc. The new card, said to be the first airline loyalty card to feature the technology, is part of an ongoing launch the bank has conducted since May of cards …
Read More »Citi Plans to Roll out 2.5 Million PayPass Key Fobs for RFID Debit
Citigroup Inc. plans to roll out 2.5 million key fobs for contactless debit card payment following a launch of the technology this fall in the New York area, the banking giant announced today. The so-called tap-and-go transaction devices will fit on consumer's keychains, and will be based on MasterCard International's …
Read More »Accelitec Looks to Rising Interchange to Help Sell New RFID System
A Seattle-based startup that has been quietly testing a contactless payment system intended to be branded and controlled by merchants is now marketing the system as a way for retailers to control rising card-acceptance costs. Accelitec Inc. says its PayPilot system, which includes token dispensers, tokens equipped with chip-and-transmitter inlays, …
Read More »MasterCard Stats Show Continued Double-Digit Rise for Signature Debit
Signature-based debit continued to grow at double-digit rates in the second quarter, as indicated by statistics released today by MasterCard International. Total MasterCard signature, or off-line, debit volume hit $48 billion in the U.S., up 32.3% over the same period last year. The point-of-sale component of this activity was $29.1 …
Read More »Colorado Becomes Latest Market in Chase’s Contactless Rollout
Continuing its national rollout of contactless card technology, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s Chase Bank U.S.A. unit said it will begin issuing the chip-equipped cards early this month in Colorado. The announcement follows by 15 days the bank's introduction of its contactless card, which it calls “blink,” in Atlanta, the …
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