Chase Rolls Out Tap-to-Pay Visa Credit Cards

Chase said Wednesday (Nov. 14) that it is rolling out tap-to-pay functionality across its Chase Visa card portfolio, an initiative that will begin late this year and extend into 2019.

Chase, the consumer banking arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., said the rollout will be done on an ongoing basis, spanning when customers open up new accounts or have cards that are renewed. The company also said that it will debut contactless debit cards in the second half of next year.

The company said that Chase Freedom Unlimited and Chase Slate customers will be among the first to receive their new cards.

“All Chase Visa credit cards, including all co-brand cards, will have tap-to-pay functionality by the first half of 2019,” according to the release.

The firm described the contactless checkout experience as “simple and secure,” in part due to secure EMV chip technology, and one where tap and pay takes place at readers bearing the “contactless symbol” – and Chase said transactions would be done “often with no signature required.” The company noted that each contactless transaction produces one-time-use codes to protect payment information.

Chase – the No.1 card issuer in the U.S. – and Visa stated in the release that tap to pay is becoming a standard way to transact in a variety of settings, from public transportation to restaurants, as 40 percent of all Visa transactions done outside the U.S. are done through that method.

As many as 70 of the top 100 merchants in the U.S., measured by number of transactions, offer the ability to pay using tap at checkout.

“Tapping to pay will help speed our customers through checkout with the ease and confidence of paying with Chase,” said Abeer Bhatia, president of card marketing, pricing and innovation for Chase card services. Bhatia later spoke to PYMNTS separately in an interview to be published on Thursday (Nov. 15). “Outside the U.S., consumers love the convenience of contactless payments, and we’re excited to start tapping to pay here.”