Visa’s PayWave and MasterCard’s PayPass

In addition to the customer service advantages in the actual branches, many financial institutions are issuing cards with RFID chips backed by Visa and Mastercard for added convenience to the customers. Two such cards are the PayWave by Visa and the PayPass by MasterCard.

With MasterCard’s PayPass customers may use their RFID enabled card at retailers and stores where the PayPass logo is posted.  All they do is tap their card on the logo.  They then listen for a beep and a green light indicating that the payment was approved.  For purchases under fifty dollars no pin or signature is required.  This significantly reduces the time required for the customer to get rung up and they can be in and out of the store.

The concept with Visa’s PayWave is the same.  Instead of tapping their card the customer waves it at a reader.  With PayWave customers don’t have to sign for transactions under twenty-five dollars.

The benefits to the customer include faster checkout, no signature required, reduced risk of fraud as the customer remains in control of their card.

Halifax bank in London is one of the banks who has issued PayWave Visa debit cards.

Many customers have security issues with the use of these cards.  I anticipate that once there is a greater comfort level with RFID enabled cards that larger purchases will not require signatures and pins and RFID cards will ultimately replace the magnetic strip debit card all together.