Chase bank issued a press release patting themselves on the back about how they’re introducing contactless cards through their entire portfolio of VISA credit cards starting in 2019. In their words:
In the coming months, millions of Chase customers will benefit from a fast, easy, and secure checkout experience, saving valuable time by completing a transaction with a single tap.
Contactless cards are nothing new. People in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have been using them for years and we are the strange ones in the United States who don’t use this technology.
As it turns out, we’ve had this technology for a while and it’s Chase that’s the last one to get to the party.
I’ve had a Starwood American Express card with contactless payment ability for at least five years. Citi has issued contactless cards for all of their Costco credit cards. However, Chase wants to make it look like they’re the trendsetters.
Chase was the only major bank who wasn’t offering any contactless cards. American Express offers contactless cards for many of their products, even the metal cards like AMEX Gold and AMEX Platinum. I found someone who took pictures of the plain and contactless versions of each card on Reddit.
This was news to me as I didn’t think they could put contactless technology onto a metal card. As usual, I was at least a year behind the times.
I’m glad to see that Chase is planning on offering contactless cards throughout their entire card portfolio. Other banks only offer some cards with the technology. Here are the estimated times of when each card will be available:
December 2018
- AARP Credit Card from Chase
- British Airways Visa Signature® Card
- Chase Freedom® Credit Card
- Chase Freedom Unlimited® Credit Card
- Chase Slate® Credit Card
- The World of Hyatt Credit Card
- Starbucks Rewards™ Visa® Card
- UnitedSM Explorer Card
- UnitedSM TravelBank Card
- UnitedSM MileagePlus® Card
- UnitedSM MileagePlus® Club Card
- UnitedSM MileagePlus® Explorer Business Card
2019
- Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card
- Disney® Premier Visa® Card
- Disney® Visa® Card
- Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card
- Ink Business CashSM Credit Card
- Ink Business PreferredSM Credit Card
- Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card
- Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business Credit Card
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
Now all we need is Citi to step into the present and offer contactless tech on a card besides the Costco Anywhere. Even Wells Fargo issues contactless cards to their customers, often five or six cards to each one of them (Sorry, too soon?).
Why Contactless?
Contactless cards come in handy at places where you need to pay quickly, like for a mass transit ticket. We just used our contactless card to pay for our tickets on the Chicago public transit system and it was so much easier than having to buy a ticket from the vending machines.
I have no idea if contactless cards will ever catch on in the United States when so many people still don’t understand the concept of a chip card. While they can remember a PIN for their debit card, having a PIN for a credit card seems to be too much trouble for Americans. Why we’re always the last ones to adapt to new things is beyond me but then I remember that we still measure things in miles and pounds when the rest of the world was able to adapt to using Kilometers and Kilograms.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
