From making traffic flow more freely with EZ-Pass to tracking Americans abroad, RFID technology is speeding up the world we live in.
Now the technology is making it easier to buy a pack of smokes or a quart of
milk, as Chase Bank U.S.A., a division of JPMorgan Chase,
today rolled out RFID Chase “contactless” credit cards, useable throughout
the New York City tri-state area.
The contactless credit-card system with blink will be available initially at 1,800 merchants in the New York Tri-State area.
Instead of swiping the new card, which Chase estimates to have sent to its 3
million area customers, blink users can “blink” lunch or “blink” a Slurpee
by holding the card near point-of-sale readers.
In May, Chase launched several pilot programs around the country to make certain the service would work. Tom O’Donnell, senior vice president at JP Morgan Chase Card Service division, said customer feedback was resoundingly positive and led to today’s launch.
The company has already distributed 5 million cards worldwide.
“The innovative cards with blink provide merchants and card members with the
increased speed and convenience they want at the point-of-sale,” said O’Donnell. “Everything a credit card does today, it does.”
Chase will also begin delivering cards with blink to approximately 900,000
Philadelphia-area card members this week and add approximately 1,200
storefronts in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, according to
O’Donnell.
Those businesses include 7-Eleven stores, AMC Theatres, CVS/pharmacy,
Duane Reade, Regal Entertainment Group, Sony Style stores and their
participating locations, and Wawa.
Chase will also launch an integrated promotional campaign next month, said
O’Donnell.
Erik Michielsen, ABI Research’s director of RFID and ubiquitous networks,
said the announcement reinforces the notion of a quickly developing, coast-to-coast contactless-enabled economy.
“The Chase blink announcement illustrates that consumers, merchants, and
card issuers are embracing small-payment, cashless transactions in
environments where speed and convenience matter,” he said. “Alternative
payment offerings such as blink will continue to open new cashless markets
and offer customers a more convenient way to pay.”
In addition to participating as a blink merchant, Wawa also launched a co-branded credit card with the blink feature, allowing customers the ability to use the new Wawa co-branded card and Chase cards with blink at all 540 of its
locations.
“The new Chase cards with blink enable a faster, easier transaction,” Rick
Updyke, vice president of business development for 7-Eleven, said in a
statement. “Contactless payment complements 7-Eleven’s strategy of providing
consumers convenient, speedy service.”
