Taxis Install State-of-the-Art Visa payWave Readers; Passengers Avoid Fumbling for Cash, Pay Faster

SAN FRANCISCO, June 12, 2007–Visa, a global leader in payments, and taxi innovation expert Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT), today announced the launch of a program to enhance the payment experience for New York taxi passengers. The initiative, which started in June 2007, will equip thousands of New York taxicabs with contactless payment readers located in the back of the taxi, enabling passengers to simply pay with a wave.

Visa payWave is a new technology feature found on a growing number of Visa cards worldwide. It uses radio-frequency technology to send payment information rapidly and securely over an extremely short distance to the point of sale terminal. All other aspects of the contactless transaction are handled in the same way as a traditional Visa payment transaction.

“There is no city that hustles like New York and Visa is helping to add a bit of speed and convenience to the preferred mode of transportation for thousands of visitors and locals” said Brian Triplett, Senior Vice President of Emerging Product Development at Visa USA. “We’re excited to offer New York taxi passengers not only an alternative to cash, but a technology that will get them to where they’re going faster and more efficiently.”

New York taxis equipped with the new readers are able to accept both Visa payWave transactions as well as traditional “swipe” transactions. Passengers are able to include a tip to the price of the fare, and no signature is required for transactions under $25. Visa research shows that increasingly consumers want to use a payment card for purchases under $25 for convenience (73 percent), efficiency (44 percent) and speed (39 percent).

“Our goal is to bring cutting-edge technology to the New York taxi industry to increase efficiency and quality of service,” said Jesse H. Davis, President and COO at Creative Mobile Technologies. “By partnering with Visa, we’re able to help taxi owners and operators easily integrate a new technology and streamline their business operations.”

Visa payWave Television Advertising Campaign

The launch of this partnership coincides with the debut of Visa’s latest “Life Takes Visa” television spot, titled “Morning in Manhattan.” The commercial shows New Yorkers making small ticket purchases such as coffee, donuts, newspapers and taxi fares, enabled by Visa payWave and swipe transactions. The harmony of the morning routine is brought to an abrupt halt when one customer chooses to pay with cash. Fortunately the next customer waves their Visa payWave card for a faster, easier transaction, resuming the rhythm of transactions which are set to the classical waltz “Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss.

“We hope our marketing efforts in support of Visa payWave ensure consumers have a positive payment experience each and every time they ride in a taxi, visit a merchant or see a movie,” added Brian Triplett.

About Visa payWave

Visa payWave has been growing in popularity. To date, there are approximately 7.3 million cards issued worldwide and more than 31,000 merchant locations in the United States accept Visa payWave. The new technology is particularly useful in places where speed is important to customers and where cash has been the traditional means of payment. Besides taxi cabs, the technology is well-suited for convenience stores, sporting venues, gas stations and theaters.

About Creative Mobile Technologies

Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT) is a leading New York City-based taxi technology company that brings together longtime taxi industry leaders with internationally recognized technology experts. CMT has partnered with Clear Channel, Bank of America and World Line Communications to bring New York City taxi owners the award-winning FREEdom Solution, providing safe and secure credit and debit card capability, GPS, customized taxi business management software and other features. CMT also operates in Chicago. For further information, log on to http://www.cmtnyc.com.

About Visa USA

Visa USA is a leading payments brand and the nation’s largest payments system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders – financial institutions, cardholders and merchants. In the United States, more than 521 million Visa-branded cards have been issued by our 13,320 financial institution customers.

Visa products generated nearly $1.8 trillion in total volume in the United States through March 2007 and enjoy unsurpassed acceptance around the globe. For more information, visit http://www.visa.com.

Contact

Elvira Swanson
Visa USA
650-432-8352
elswanso@visa.com