Chase Bank USA has recently joined forces with United Airlines to issue the airline's Mileage Plus frequent flyer miles for purchases using the bank's Blink-enabled contactless United Mileage Plus Visa credit cards. The bank also did a little research to find out what consumers really think about checkout lines.
To use their United Mileage Plus Visa card with Blink, cardholders hold their card near the Blink POS terminal at the store checkout instead of swiping their card or handing it to a checkout assistant. Joe Venuti, senior vice president for Chase's Card Services division, commented: "With Blink, we're giving our United Mileage Plus cardmembers another way to enjoy the power and versatility of this credit card."
Consumer opinions
In support of the new credit cards with Blink, and their ability to offer consumers more convenience, Chase recently commissioned a telephone survey of 1,000 US adults (conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation). The survey found that:
- Americans most dread waiting in lines at the doctor's office (27%) and the Department of Motor Vehicles (26%), followed by the grocery store (18%).
- Americans dislike waiting in lines, but the following behaviours make it worse: slow/inefficient cashiers (23%), someone changing their mind about an item that has been rung up (19%) and someone who leaves the line to run back for an item (19%).
- One-third of Americans (32%) get frustrated after waiting in line for 10 minutes or less.
- Half of Americans (52%) take the stairs instead of waiting for an elevator.
- One-third of Americans will drive fast (35%), bring other things to do while waiting in line (33%) or buy fewer items to use the express lane (30%).
- One-quarter of Americans use a fast pass on the highway (24%).
Cards issued
The payment cards with Chase's Blink contactless payment technology were first issued in mid-2005 to more than 200,000 cardmembers in Colorado (a key United Airlines hub destination). Consumers can use United Mileage Plus Visa cards everywhere they currently use credit cards, as well as using the Blink feature wherever contactless payments are accepted.
Currently, there are more than 1.5 million Chase cardmembers using cards with Blink at fast-service locations such as 7-Eleven, Arby's, CVS, Edwards Theatres, RaceTrac, Regal Cinema, United Artist Theatres and Walgreens. By the end of 2005, Chase plans to introduce Blink-enabled cards to other regional markets, and have thousands of merchant locations accepting Blink across the USA.
For additional information:
· Visit Chase at http://www.chaseblink.com
· Visit United at http://www.united.com