JPMorgan Chase to Roll Out No-Swipe Card - Yahoo! News: "JPMorgan Chase to Roll Out No-Swipe Card

By Vivian Chu, AP Business Writer Thu May 19, 1:34 PM ET

NEW YORK - JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Thursday it will offer a new credit card that allows users to pay for items by holding the card near a terminal instead of manually swiping it.
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JPMorgan said it will start mailing out the new 'blink' cards in late June in two major U.S. cities, followed by a nationwide rollout continuing into next year. The company would not name the cities.

The cards are equipped with encrypted data readable by a point-of-sale terminal at the checkout counter. The terminal will emit a tone confirming payment, the bank said.

Besides speeding up the payment process, the new cards are aimed at bolstering credit card sales for JPMorgan Chase, the nation's second largest financial services provider and its premier credit card issuer.

'The new card makes it easier and faster for people to pay in places where they currently use cash, like convenience stores and fast-food stores,' said Thomas O'Donnell, senior vice president of Chase cards services. 'If you can get them to stop using cash, that translates into more frequent credit card use and greater loyalty with customers.'

Although the new cards will not require a customer signature, JPMorgan maintained they provide the same level of security as the traditional card-swiping method.

'The customer has to hold the card close to the terminal, but it stays in their possession at all times,' O'Donnell said. 'The card and the reader in the terminal are safe and secure, and the transaction is handled the same way that credit cards are managed today.'

7-Eleven Inc., the world's top convenience store chain, will test the new card in 170 of its stores, while Sheetz Inc., a family-owned convenience store chain, will launch a cobranded credit card offering the new service at its 300 locations, the bank said. Drugstore chain CVS Corp. and movie theater operator Regal Entertainment Group have also agreed to use the new cards.

JPMorgan said it plans to have thousands of merchants nationwide accepting the new cards by the end of the year."