Chase Picks Atlanta To Roll Out Next Generation Payment Product
Chase Cards With blink Redefine Payment Experience for Metro Atlantans by Providing Increased Speed, Added Convenience, Enhanced Rewards Platform; More Than 400 Area Merchant Locations Enjoy Faster Transactions, Increased Customer Loyalty
ATLANTA, May 24, 2005–Chase Bank U.S.A., N.A., a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. [NYSE: JPM], announced today that Atlanta will be the first U.S. market to receive the new Chase credit card with contactless functionality called blink. Beginning June 1, 2005, Chase will begin delivering nearly one million of the new cards with blink to Atlanta cardmembers, increasing the speed and convenience of credit card use at an initial base of more than 400 metro Atlanta merchant locations. In addition, Chase will launch an integrated marketing campaign in Atlanta, 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 signal to acknowledge payment confirmation.
“Metro Atlanta is a progressive, innovative and trend-setting market, which makes it an excellent place to launch the new Chase cards with blink,” said Carter Franke, chief marketing officer of Chase Card Services, the company’s credit card division. “Atlantans also have a penchant for saving time, so we’re confident that they will take to contactless payment quickly and use their Chase cards with blink often.”
Working in conjunction with Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International Incorporated, Chase has identified merchants where speed and convenience are important to consumers, and is introducing the new Chase card with blink with an impressive roster of participating Atlanta merchants, including well-known movie theaters, convenience and specialty retailers, quick service restaurants and drug stores. The number of merchants accepting Chase cards 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.
Benefits for Cardmembers and Merchants
After taking part in a 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 Atlanta Residents
In support of the new Chase credit cards with blink and the roll out in Atlanta, Chase recently commissioned a telephone survey of 250 adult Atlanta 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 Atlanta 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 Atlanta residents to wait in line is at the Department of Motor Vehicles (28%), followed by waiting in line at the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport (25%).
- More than one-half of Atlanta residents will chat with their neighbor while waiting in line although many admit to getting really frustrated in line after 10 minutes (43%).
- The most coveted celebrity Atlanta residents to wait in line with are Former President Jimmy Carter (19%), Outkast members (17%), and the Falcons’ quarterback Michael Vick (17%).
More detailed Atlanta survey results are available at http://www.chaseblink.com/atlanta.
Integrated Marketing and Advertising Campaign
Beginning June 1, Chase will launch a fully integrated marketing and advertising campaign targeting Atlanta area cardmembers to help educate and excite local consumers about Chase cards with blink. The campaign will encourage Atlanta cardmembers to “blink lunch,” “blink a drink” or “blink a movie” by bringing to life how the card works at many leading Atlanta-area merchants. The campaign will leverage television, radio, newspaper and billboard advertising to reach consumers, and will be complemented by several cardmember communications about the new card functionality.
A History of Innovation
Chase will be the first credit card issuer to widely roll out a 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 with many of their premier partners, including: the Starbucks Card Duetto Visa, a first-of-its-kind payment card blending credit card functionality with the reloadable Starbucks Card; the Disney Rewards Card, a stored-value card jointly developed with The Walt Disney Company 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 http://www.jpmorganchase.com.