Washington Mutual Testing Contactless Credit Cards
By Liz Morris
Washington Mutual announced yesterday a trial of “contactless” credit cards that will allow its cardholders to pay for purchases without swiping their cards. The cards will work with both MasterCard’s PayPass and Visa’s payWave technology, both of which allow for quick credit card transaction by tapping or waving the cards at specially-equipped readers.
In addition to speed, the contactless cards are meant to encourage credit card use for smaller purchases. To that end, merchants who accept contactless payments do not request signatures for most purchases under $25. Contactless credit cards still contain the magnetic stripe that allows for traditional card swiping.
Washington Mutual did not offer information on what form the testing would take or how/if/when a decision on a full rollout of contactless cards would occur.