SAN FRANCISCO -- Four national and regional merchantsincluding Taco Bell Corp.are the latest to accept Visa USA cards with embedded contactless payment technology, allowing consumers to use the technology to buy food, groceries and movie tickets at more than 3,000 new acceptance locations.
The four companiesBraum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores; Clearview Cinemas; Wakefern Food Corp., the merchandising and distribution arm of ShopRite supermarkets; and Taco Bell Corp.are emblematic of the kind of merchants who have helped to make Visa Contactless [image-nocss] cards the most rapidly adopted new payment technology in Visa's history, according to the credit-card company.
Visa Contactless technology enables customers to make purchases by simply holding their Visa Contactless cards near a secure reader at the checkout instead of swiping them. The account information is securely transmitted by a tiny radio frequency chip embedded in the card.
Visa Contactless eliminates the signature requirement for most payments under $25, providing convenience to customers making small ticket purchases. In addition, Visa Contactless maintains the level of security the industry has come to expect from Visa. A Visa card with the contactless feature never leaves the customer's hand and can only be read at extremely close proximity to a contactless reader. In addition, the chip embedded in Visa Contactless cards generates data that is unique to each transaction, ensuring the same data cannot be used for fraudulent contactless transaction.
When faced with the choice between paper or plastic, consumers are increasingly turning to plastic for everyday purchases at grocery stores, fast-food restaurants and convenience stores, and Visa cardholders consistently voice their preference for merchants that offer fast and convenient transactions, said Brian Triplett, senior vice president, Emerging Product Development, Visa USA, San Francisco. By collaborating with merchants like these, we are able meet the demands of consumers and provide them with an enhanced purchasing experience.
Taco Bell Corp., the nation's leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain, will test Visa Contactless cards initially at 100 restaurants in the fourth quarter of 2007. The brand plans to turn all 1,300 company restaurants and additional participating franchise locations nationwide into Contactless acceptance locations throughout 2008, pending a successful test.
Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores, a family-owned restaurant chain, now accepts Visa Contactless at its 276 stores in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
Clearview Cinemas has installed Visa Contactless readers in all of its 52 theater locations. Clearview shows films on 258 screens in the New York metropolitan area.
ShopRite, a grocery retailer in the Northeast, has started accepting Visa Contactless payments at more than 4,000 POS locations in more than 200 ShopRite stores across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Delaware.
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