U.S. Bank Pilots Visa payWave on Unembossed Debit Cards

U.S. Bank (Minneapolis; $266 billion in assets) has launched pilot programs in Salt Lake City and Denver, under which the bank will instantly issue unembossed debit cards with Visa (San Francisco) payWave technology to customers upon opening an account.

Visa payWave technology allows account holders to make purchases by waving their debit card past an electronic reader. According to a U.S. Bank press release, the pilot programs mark the first time such a technology has been incorporated with unembossed cards which, leveraging software and hardware from Dynamic Card Solutions (Englewood, Colo.), can be instantly personalized and issued to new account holders at branch locations.

"Exploring smart and convenient ways to streamline payments is one of our top priorities," Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer at U.S. Bank Retail Payment Solutions, said in the release. "Our customers have demonstrated great interest in any development that makes their lives easier, whether it's by giving them a debit card the minute they open their account, or speeding up their time in a check out line."

U.S. Bank selected the Denver and Salt Lake City areas to pilot the new cards because customers there are familiar with the kind of contactless payment capability that payWave technology provides. Many merchants in those areas, U.S. Bank says, offer Visa payWave as a payment option. In addition, the bank says that it has a strong presence in both metropolitan areas.