Contactless payment

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Contactless payment systems are credit cards, key fobs, or other devices which use RFID for making secure payments. The built in chip and antenna enable consumers to wave their card or fob over a reader at the point of sale. Some suppliers claim that transactions can be almost twice as fast as a conventional cash, credit, or debit card purchase. Because no signature is typically required for purchases under $25 USD, some research indicates that consumers are likely to spend more money due to the ease of small transactions.

Industry analysts predict that there will be almost 40 million contactless payment devices in use in the US by the end of 2006.

Major financial entities introducing contactless payment are MasterCard, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, American Express, KeyBank and HSBC.

[edit] References

Todorova, Aleksandra; Wall Street Journal N.Y.: Nov 27, 2005. pg. 3