Washington Mutual is to begin testing contactless payments across both credit and debit card platforms in partnership with Visa payWave and MasterCard PayPass.
The 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 authorised in seconds, and no signature is required for most purchases under $25.00.
Other US banks running contactless card payment programmes include Bank of America, Citibank, BB&T, Wells Fargo, US Bank and Chase.
Visa now claims to have ten card issuers supporting the payWave programme, 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.