MasterCard plans 4 million 'pay pass' cards

RFID-equipped credit cards let customers simply wave cards at readers
MEMPHIS - A top executive with Mastercard Inc. said Monday the company, the world's No. 2 credit-card association, expected to have 4 million so-called "pay pass" cards in circulation by year's end.

Speaking at an industry conference here, Ruth Ann Marshall, Americas president for MasterCard, said that Citibank, HSBC and Key Bank had all begun offering the cards, which are equipped with a radio-frequency chip that allows customers to pay for purchases by simply waving their cards at readers posted near cash registers or gas pumps.

Marshall said the pay-pass cards were "easier to use than cash" and were one of the products MasterCard was counting on to increase revenue and profits as it faces a variety of challenges in the marketplace, including new rivals and regulatory scrutiny.

"It's just one of the ... breakthroughs in technology that we're pursuing in order to increase convenience and boost usage," Marshall said....for more of the story from MSNBC