Chase Bank is to begin roll out of its blink contactless payment card scheme in June, with the delivery of nearly one million cards to customers in Atlanta.
The US bank says cardholders will initially be able to use the new cards at an initial base of more than 400 metro Atlanta merchant locations. Participating retailers include cinemas, convenience and specialty retailers, quick service restaurants and drug stores, such as Walgreens Co.
Chase says that trials conducted with MasterCard in Orlando in 2003 confirmed that consumers find the contactless technology to be simple, fast and convenient, and that they appreciate the added security from retaining possession of their cards while paying. The most significant time saving was realised in the drive-thru environment, where transaction time was reduced by as much as 20 seconds as compared to cash.