DENVER -- Chase Bank USA, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., has announced the Colorado rollout of its new Chase contactless credit card called blink. Beginning in early June, Chase will start delivering the new cards with blink to more than 500,000 Colorado cardmembers, increasing the speed and convenience of credit card use at an initial base of more than 400 merchant locations in 63 cities across Colorado, including 7-Eleven, Arby's, Regal Cinema's and Walgreen's.
Colorado will be the first state west of the Mississippi River to receive the new [image-nocss] blink technology. To support the effort, Chase will launch an integrated statewide marketing campaign, including print, broadcast and billboard advertising.
As reported in CSP Daily News, to use Chase cards with blink, cardmembers hold their card near a point-of-sale (POS) terminal at the checkout, instead of swiping their card or handing it to a store employee. As cardmembers hold their Chase card with blink near the POS terminal, the terminal will emit a tone and light up to signal payment confirmation.
The new Chase cards with blink also feature the traditional magnetic stripe and can be used anywhere Visa and MasterCard are accepted.
The new blink card is one of the many expanded services being offered to customers as Chase expands its presence in Colorado, said Carter Franke, chief marketing officer of Chase Card Services, the company's credit card division.
Working in conjunction with Visa USA and MasterCard International, Chase has identified stores where speed and convenience are important to consumers, and is introducing the new Chase card with blink with an impressive roster of participating Colorado merchants. 7-Eleven, Arby's and Walgreen's are among the first area merchants to adopt the new blink payment system and make it available to cardmembers. Regal Cinema's has also announced they will accept contactless payments at their locations beginning in July.
7-Eleven continually looks for ways to use technology to provide added value and convenience for our customers. Contactless payments will give our customers faster service, said Rick Updyke, vice president of business development for 7-Eleven. In support of Chase's launch of blink, 170 of our stores around Denver will be equipped with contactless payment acceptance technology.
After taking part in MasterCard's Paypass pilot program in Orlando in 2003 and evaluating the results of trials from around the world, Chase said results confirmed that consumers find the contactless technology to be simple, fast and convenient, and that consumers enjoyed the added security from retaining possession of their cards while paying. The most significant time savings was realized in the drive-thru environment, where transaction time was reduced by as much as 20 seconds as compared to cash.
Consumers also liked the convenience of not carrying cash for everyday purchases, meaning they no longer needed to find change and small bills or be limited by the cash in their purses or wallets. In fact, 60% of respondents to a recent MasterCard survey said they use cash less often today than they did five years ago.
For merchants, blink transactions speed checkout times and allow consumers to spend less time waiting in lines. Research has shown that customers who use blink cards often spend more per transaction and are happier with their store experience, Chase said.
Beginning June 16, Chase will launch a fully integrated marketing and advertising campaign targeting Colorado cardmembers to help educate and excite local consumers about blink. The campaign will encourage cardmembers to blink lunch, blink a drink or blink a movie by bringing to life how the card works at many leading merchants. The campaign will leverage TV, radio, newspaper and billboard advertising to reach consumers, and will be complemented by several cardmember mailings and statement inserts about the new card functionality.
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