Originally Posted by
eng3
If it is the same rate, I'm not sure why anyone would ever buy a card anymore if using NFC (Phone or wireless card) costs the same or less).
I think the biggest reason would be that phone or contactless bank cards only (currently) permit pay-as-you-go fares. If you want to get any of the passes (for unlimited rides in 1/3/7/30 days), which often make sense if you're staying in Chicago for any extended period of time without a car or plan to be riding a lot within a short period of time, then you need to load those passes onto a Ventra card.
If London-style capping ever gets implemented then it would seem to be a no-brainer, but for now I'd imagine that's the biggest reason why.