4 million PayPass cards by year end

It is wonderful to see something you worked on become big. Three years ago I worked for JP Morgan Chase on the launch of PayPass, a contactless payment technology being developed by MasterCard. Basically, it looks like a credit card, but you wave it near a reader instead of swiping it, plus there isn't a signature required for charges under $25. (I think this is still the case) At the time I started working on the project, the product didn't have a name, it hadn't been issued anywhere yet, and we were still working with all sorts of vendors to get things working. I even had the opportunity to make the second purchase ever (my boss did the first) using the technology at the MasterCard gift shop.

Since that time, pilots have take place in Florida, Texas, and Illinois(I think) to name a few and now finally the product is coming to the masses. According to an article on Reuters there will be 4 million PayPass cards issued by year end.

So now when you walk into the McDonalds or Duane Reade and see the funny looking credit card machines you will know what they are for. It will be interesting to see how the number of cards continues to grow over the next couple of years.