Blinking Kiosks in Denver
Chase Bank U.S.A., a division JPMorgan and Chase, announced today the Colorado rollout of its new Chase "contactless" credit card called "blink." These card will be accepted at over 400 locations (including some with kiosks). Makes you wonder when they might show up at ATMs (and that impact).
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 Arby's, 7-Eleven, Regal Cinema's and Walgreen's (FedEx has kiosks at these locations). Colorado will be the first state west of the Mississippi to receive the new blink technology. To support the effort, Chase will launch an integrated statewide marketing campaign, including print, broadcast and billboard advertising.
To use Chase cards with blink, cardmembers simply hold their card near a point-of-sale terminal at checkout, instead of swiping their card or handing it to a store employee. As cardmembers hold their Chase card with blink near the point-of-sale terminal, the terminal will quickly emit a tone and light up to signal payment confirmation.
"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. "This is a community that savors every last minute available to take advantage of the active quality of life here, so we're confident they will take to contactless payment quickly and save time by using their Chase cards with blink often."
Working in conjunction with Visa U.S.A. 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. The number of merchants accepting the Chase card with blink is expected to grow steadily throughout the year. The new Chase cards with blink also feature the traditional magnetic stripe and can be used anywhere Visa and MasterCard are accepted.
"We're excited to offer our customers the benefits of this new technology," said Leslie Andrews, director of marketing and consumer affairs for The Bailey Company. "We anticipate many benefits to our customers including increasing the speed of service we provide at all of our Colorado Arby's locations."
"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."
Benefits for Cardmembers and Merchants
After taking part in MasterCard's Paypass pilot program in Orlando in 2003 and evaluating the results of trials from around the world, Chase understands the value and benefits that cards with blink provide to both cardmembers and merchants. Trial 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 fumble around for change and small bills, or be confined by the cash in their purses or wallets. In fact, 60 percent 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 check-out 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 cards with blink also provide a reliable, trusted payment method that works well in environments where speed is important.
Making More Time for Colorado Residents
In support of the new Chase credit cards with blink and the roll out in Colorado, Chase recently commissioned a local telephone survey of 250 adult residents hoping to discover what really irks them about waiting in line to do everyday routine activities. The Chase "Just in a blink of time" Index, conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation and administered April 15 - 17, 2005, revealed how local residents make the most of waiting in line and how they look for time-saving alternatives. The margin of error for the local market sample is +/- 6.2 percent. The survey found:
-- The most dreaded place for Denver-Metro residents to wait in line is at the DMV (33%) followed by waiting in line at the grocery store (17%) and Denver International Airport (17%).
-- 39 percent of Denver residents will chat with their neighbor while waiting in line; 32 percent admit to getting really frustrated in line after 15 minutes.
-- The most coveted Colorado celebrity residents wish to wait in line with are current Denver mayor John Hickenlooper (30%), Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony (22%) and former Bronco quarterback John Elway (17%). More detailed Denver survey results are available at www.chaseblink.com/denver.
Integrated Marketing and Advertising Campaign
Beginning June 16, Chase will launch a fully integrated marketing and advertising campaign targeting Colorado cardmembers to help educate and excite local consumers about Chase cards with 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 television, radio, newspaper and billboard advertising to reach consumers, and will be complemented by several cardmember mailings and statement inserts about the new card functionality. Downloadable files of the ads are available at www.chaseblink.com/denver.
A History of Innovation
Chase will be the first credit card issuer to widely roll out this contactless payment product, which is consistent with the company's longstanding reputation of innovation in the industry. In the past 18 months, Chase has successfully created a number of innovative payment products such as the Starbucks Card Duetto Visa, a first-of-its-kind payment card blending Visa credit card functionality with the reloadable Starbucks Card; the stored-value Disney Dream Rewards Card as part of Disney's Visa Credit Card Program; and the AARP Visa Card which combines cardmembers' credit/membership card into a first-of-its-kind card that provides automatic discounts at the point-of-sale.
About JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.2 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The company has approximately 94 million credit cards issued. Under the JPMorgan, Chase and Bank One brands, the firm serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. Information about the firm is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.
Posted by keefner at June 9, 2005 02:13 AM