WaMu to trial contactless payments
This entry was posted on 4/24/2007 11:30 AM and is filed under Technology.
Contactless cards enable consumers to simply
tap or wave their plastic card near a specially equipped merchant
terminal. The Visa payWave and MasterCard PayPass cards also have a
magnetic stripe and function as traditional credit and debit cards in
merchant locations that are not equipped for contactless transactions.
Payment is authorized in seconds, and no signature is required for most purchases under $25.00.
Other
US banks running contactless card payment programs include Bank of
America, Citibank, BB&T, Wells Fargo, US Bank and Chase.
Visa now claims to have ten card issuers supporting the payWave program, including four of the top ten US banks.
The
card scheme has additionally signed up with BP to roll out the
technology to 10,500 forecourts nationwide. In total, approximately
31,000 merchant locations in the US accept contactless payments.
