What is the future of contactless payments in the US?
The magnetic tape on the back of your credit card begins to give up its white unconditional position in the market to the integrated radio chips. RFID-technology can dramatically change the usual method of payment that consumers use when buying goods or services. At least, supporters of the new technology hope so.
Contactless payments using a chip with built-in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology allow credit card holders to pay for purchases simply by holding a card two to five centimeters from the card reader. You no longer need to carry the card through the reader, there is no need to give it to the store employees, in other words, no more contacts of your credit card with unauthorized people.
If you’ve ever ordered food from Arby’s, drank morning coffee at 7-Eleven, or went to the cinema in Cinemark, you’ve probably already seen or even used that very contactless card reader. However, if you do not live in New York, Connecticut, Denver, Atlanta or in other places where American Express, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Key Bank, Wells Fargo and other issuing companies have conducted pilot programs for the implementation of contactless payments , you probably don't have a contactless card yet. In fact, only 7 million of the total number of Morgan Chase plastic card holders (90 million) use Blink cards (banking version of contactless payments).