And to avoid being "well that's just Europe" I'll add that contactless payments are also very popular over in Asia as well.

There are contactless debit and credit cards, even proprietary cards are widely used in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Many banks offer contactless payment cards.

i.e.:
Singapore DBS Bank Live Fresh Card: http://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/cards...h/default.page
Hong Kong Hang Seng Bank enJoy card: http://bank.hangseng.com/1/2/persona...ded/enjoy-card
Japan Orico UPty Paypass: http://www.orico.co.jp/creditcard/uptypaypass/
etc. etc...


Even their contactless transit cards are defacto reloadable contactless cards because they have the ability to purchase more things than just riding their transit system. One can use HK's Octopus Card to ride HKMTR as well as buy goods and services at shops all over town. The same with T-Money in Korea, Suica/PASMO in Japan, Easy Card in Taiwan and the EZ-Link in Singapore. It may not be a VISA or a MC, but in effect, it's the same thing as a reloadable debit card because you can actually buy more things with it than using it for transit.

I take it that where there is high use of mass transit, introduction of contactless cards tends to be easier because it's easier to "phase in" to the masses' mindset because they're already used to the tap-n-go to ride concept as they use the mass transit system. And no, I have not heard any single report of hackers snooping around the crowded subways in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, or Singapore and stealing info wirelessly from transit riders there either.

Over here, outside the NE, most people tend to drive than use mass transit. And for the most part, they all tend to use flat rate fares which doesn't require the use of contactless cards for a variable rate fare system; just a single payment per boarding (you pay the same amount whether you take transit for a 1 mile or 10 miles) or show a unlimited ride monthly pass.

Hence the idea of "why do I need contactless payments in the first place" tends to be the average mindset for most Americans. Majority of Americans don't ride the bus or rail system on a daily basis as Europeans or Asians do. And even if they do, they tend to be flat rate fares or show a monthly pass instead of a "ride through the system, tapping in and tapping out, deduct fares automatically based on zones or distance" system as widely used in Europe or Asia.

The closest thing I see in use is Chicago's new Ventra Card where an all-in-one contactless debit MC has the ability to pay for CTA and PACE rides and purchase goods and services using the debit MC portion, the SmarTrip used in the DC Metro, or the BART ClipperCard used in San Francisco. That's pretty much it.