50 Millionth PayPass Issued By MasterCard

**Mogul of Pineapples** · Mar 24, 09, 9:23 pm

There have been a few threads on Credit Card Forum about this but it looks like contactless credit card are really catching on despite many people not liking them.

Last week MasterCard Worldwide announced that its 50 millionth card with PayPass has been issued. There were less than 25 million of these in circulation just one year ago.

American Express offers a similar feature on their card called ExpressPay. Discover has yet to issue a contactless credit card payment method as far as I know.

**DGenerateKane** · Mar 24, 09, 10:28 pm

The problem is support for it is not widespread. I've only seen 2 places here that support it.

**Cucumber** · Mar 26, 09, 1:34 am

I know CVS, Target and other big chain stores like that have Mastercard Paypass feature built in but other than that I don't see it often. Too many businesses, especially independent ones, are still running on credit card processing terminals from the 80's or 90's.

I think this press release by Mastercard is kind of deceiving. There may be 50 mil cards out there with Pay pass but was I really want to know is how many of the cardholders are actually bothering to use the feature???? Not that many I bet.

**Mogul of Pineapples** · Mar 26, 09, 12:12 pm

Agreed. There may be plenty of credit cards equipped with the Mastercard Paypass feature but I also highly doubt many people use it. I think we like swiping our cards rather than waving them in the air, because it's a physical action where we know for sure our card has been read. I think it's just one of those things people prefer to do when it comes to something important like money. They don't want to leave it up to chance.

**jeffysdad** · May 3, 09, 6:05 am

I have a citi mc for which I requested a paypass keyfob. It looks real neat but is rather bulky in my pocket. I got discover's answer to this; it's a downsized c card in a plastic sleeve from which it pulls out. Too bulky, also flimsy; not sure card portion will stay attached. My Chase Visa has a chip inside that lets me wave it at paypass and other similar terminals at my local mcdonalds and cvs. I like this and would rather wave than swipe, but I'm hardly ever in these places and it really doesn't make much difference, obviously. If there were wide acceptance of contactless payment, I'd leave the citi mc fob on my keychain, for the rare occasions when I'm out with my keys but not my wallet (walking the dog, for instance). If my neighborhood street folk carried wireless contactless payment terminals, I might wave a buck their way every now and then. As it is now it's just not worth it.

**Mogul of Pineapples** · May 6, 09, 1:22 am

Originally Posted by jeffysdad

If my neighborhood street folk carried wireless contactless payment terminals, I might wave a buck their way every now and then. As it is now it's just not worth it.

Ha! Then you would get the rewards for doing it too!

Off topic, because you mentioned McDonalds, is it just me or is Micky D's expensive now? Their jazzed up coffees cost something like $3 plus with tax and they are small, mostly ice. Meanwhile Starbucks you can grab a medium iced cap that's actually made for you, it tastes better, you get more, plus it costs the same. I never thought I'd say this but McDonald's is too pricey for me lately, ha!

**jeffysdad** · May 7, 09, 1:15 pm

A few weeks ago a guy at McD's asked me to buy him b'fast while I was standing in line for my Mccardiac muffin. I told him no at first but reconsidered after everyone else turned him down and I remembered I had my new Amex gold and was working my way to $500 in charges to get the 10,000 points from the new member promotion. I asked him what he wanted and he pretty much named everything on the menu board. I bought him a scaled-down b'fast that still cost more than mine.

As for coffee, I make my own, which is better than McD's and Starbucks. Neighbor works at S'bucks and steals coffee for us but I still think grocery store beans are bettter.

**fantasy86dj** · Apr 29, 10, 4:11 pm

I have had a paypass mastercard debit for 2 years now and I have only used it once. Call me old fashioned but I would much rather swipe my card and type in my PIN rather then wave something in the air.

**barbja** · Jun 29, 10, 9:31 pm

I have a Citi payPass key fob that I used a lot; mostly at McDonald's, but also at Home Depot, Einstein's bagels, and whatever other random place had it. It was linked to my "daily use" credit card.

I really liked it because I always have my keys, but I may not always have anything else (ie, my purse, my phone, etc). If I didn't have my keys, I wouldn't have gotten to where I was going.

I say "liked" because my tag stopped working when I was on vacation two weeks ago. My card expired at the end of May; the new card came with something to stick to the back of my phone (like I'm going to stick something to the back of my iphone?) Plus, the wafer thin thickness of that new tag is still too thick for my case to go on the phone. Also, if its on there, my phone won't go into phone adapter in my car. And I don't want to drag my phone out of the depths of wherever it is -- I might as well dig out my stupid card!

When I activated the new card, I asked if I would still be able to use my original keyfob. The answer: yes. Now that it has stopped working, they've decided: No. Geez.

Now I'm trying to find someone that offers a keyfob. Mastercard, Visa, AmEx, whoever. I've had that citibank account for 25 years and run anywhere between $12k - $25k through it per year. And, yes, I'm willing to dump it just because they won't let me use my keyfob anymore!

Anyone know a bank that has keyfobs?

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Further off topic

Who still gives out keyfobs?