U.S.-based Citigroup has quietly launched its contactless payment sticker, making it available to customers who request it on the bank’s Web site.
The sticker is believed to be the first in the United States enabling consumers to make credit payments. Other contactless stickers in circulation are linked to prepaid or debit accounts. Citi intends for customers to attach the stickers to the backs of their mobile phones, then tap them to pay just as they would PayPass cards or key fobs the bank issues. They can tap to pay for purchases of under $50 at roughly 70,000 merchant locations that accept PayPass in the U.S.
The bank has ordered the sticker in quantities of hundreds of thousands, not millions. But as NFC Times reported in early April, the Citi stickers could signal a larger mobile-payment initiative for the bank. More sticker orders could follow, as well as more sophisticated contactless-mobile payment devices, including NFC phones or contactless microSD cards, when these products become available.
I currently have a PayPass MasterCard through Citi. The card itself is PayPass enabled. I also have the keychain fob. I called Citi to request the new sticker with no success. The representatives were scrambling to find out what I was talking about. I would like this product, but I guess I will have to wait until marketing makes customer service aware of new products they are launching. Dear Citi, it might help to keep all your employees up to speed on the products you have available.
I remember this happened when contactless cards first came out. It doesn't help that Citi has not put much promotion behind the sticker yet.
Swiping your plastic is becoming a thing of the past.
Riverwoods-based credit card company Discover said it began issuing Discover Zip contactless credit cards and stickers on Nov. 15.
The way it works, consumers touch a payment device, which is in the form of either a plastic card or a sticker that can be applied to a mobile phone or any personal item, to a Zip-enabled contactless reader to make a payment. Currently, more than 100,000 U.S. locations, including restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores, offer contactless readers that accept Zip transactions at cash registers.
A Discover spokeswoman declined to share numbers on how many consumers are getting the cards and stickers, but said the company is sending them to anyone it considers “mobile engaged.”
That might include anyone who has viewed a Discover email from their mobile device, logged into m.discover.com, or logged into any Discover Mobile applications, she said. It also includes those who requested a Discover 2Go key chain card a while back.
Currently they are printing stickers will be issued to more cardmembers beginning in January 2011,
Also, anyone with a Discover cash rewards card, including Discover More, Open Road and Motiva, can call 1-800-DISCOVER to request a Zip card and sticker, she said.