Originally Posted by
monksy
I don't need the contactless option on the visa card. I know there are stores that use it, why bother when you have the chip/pin?
The US is de facto chip and signature,
not chip and PIN.
Additionally, I'm not sure how much foreign travel you typically do, but a fair number of other countries are going away from inserting altogether (at least for smaller purchases, anyway). There may come a time in the future where inserting at all becomes a giant hassle or potentially not possible entirely, much like what happened with swiping just before the US finally got the chip.
Generally it's faster, but you should still have the option to opt out. Alas, banking is subject to fashions, and contactless is on an upswing. You may be able to delay adoption, but you may as well lay in a supply of foil envelopes if you do not want to store your transit card separately from your credit cards.
I suspect if there was a commonly known/published way to opt out, a large number of Americans likely would. The reasons for doing so would be varied, however (for instance, wanting a slightly thicker/more substantial metal card in the case of AmEx). Honestly, I'm still surprised banks are even bothering with contactless cards; you'd think they'd just push Apple/Google Pay usage much harder by offering permanent bonus points or something.