just a question? Perhaps an ignorant one, however, many of the 'usual suspects' have been hinting that the 'muther' deal is tied to a major financial intso eg. Citibank/Mastercard/Visa to name but a few.
It seems these insto's already have this technology and are rolling it out as we speak (refer below)...
My question is... What do BQT have, on top of what is already listed below?
Citibank Taps Debit PayPass For Contactless Payment
Citibank will launch a contactless debit product this fall in the United States in the form of a keychain fob that customers can tap on compatible terminals to make small purchases. The only other U.S. issuer to offer a tap-and-go debit product is Cleveland-based KeyBank, which plans to add the contactless chip and antenna to a standard-size debit card.
Both issuers are using the MasterCard PayPass contactless smart card technology that can be added to either debit or credit offerings. Citibank estimates it will issue 2.5 million keyfobs nationwide. The tap-and-go fobs will be introduced in New York City in late September or early October and in other markets starting in February, Wayne Malone, senior vice president of transaction innovation at Citibank, tells CardLine. Malone says a fob was chosen because the bank's research found that many consumers in its markets often just carry their keys and some cash in a money clip, leaving their wallets and purses at home. "They always have their keys," Malone says. The football-shaped fob will have the Citibank logo on one side, and the PayPass logo on the other. The fobs will be companion devices to Citibank's traditional ATM/debit cards. Customers will tap the fob against a compatible payment terminal. A light flashes on the reader indicating the transaction is complete.
Citibank's move is a sign that U.S. banks are embracing contactless payment, says Gwenn Bezard, research director at Aite Group, a consulting firm. "Now, it's going to be a matter of one announcement after the other," he says. In June, Chase Card Services, a unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co., launched a contactless credit card, as did American Express. Citibank says it will launch a PayPass credit card trial this fall.
MasterCard estimates there will be 20,000 PayPass locations in the United States by the end of the year. Among the merchants committed to accepting contactless payment devices are McDonald's restaurants, 7-Eleven convenience stories and CVS drug stores. Citibank's Malone says he is comfortable with the number of merchants that accept contactless payments. "Within the last three months, the number of merchants has grown four to five times," he says. "We didn't want to issue the card until we had a minimum of 10 merchants in our Zip codes."
Citibank says customers will be able to track smaller purchases more easily than when paying with cash because each transaction will be included in their account statements. The fobs will carry Citibank's Zero Liability policy for protection against unauthorized purchases. Additionally, the fob will not have personal information, such as the cardholder's name or account number, on it. There will be no minimum purchase amount required, but cardholders will be limited to a maximum of $150 in daily purchases. Signatures will not be required for transactions less than $25.
Visa USA also has developed a contactless payment product and Chase issues both Visa- and MasterCard-branded contactless credit cards called "blink." Because all the card organizations use the same radio frequency technology, a single terminal can accept contactless products from MasterCard, Visa and AmEx. (2005-08-29)
TIA
BQT
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