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USA contactless credit/debit/transit (2017 - 2021)

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Old Jan 16, 2017, 6:55 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: storewanderer
Older (archived) threads: 2014-16
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FAQ
  1. What is EMV contactless?

    EMV contactless is a form of contactless/NFC that uses the same security and encryption that is used when inserting a chip card into an EMV-enabled terminal. Other than not having to sign/enter a PIN for smaller transactions, the security is effectively the same as chip and PIN/chip and signature.

    In contrast, MSD contactless is an older version that is designed just and only for the United States. This effectively uses much the same flow as a swiped card transaction with the same rules.

  2. What is CDCVM?

    CDCVM stands for Consumer Device Cardholder Verification Method. It's a method of telling the terminal that the customer verified their identity using their mobile device. Terminals that support it will waive the signature/PIN requirement typically in place for larger transactions, potentially saving time at checkout.

    More info: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202527

  3. Does EMV contactless need to be supported to support CDCVM?

    Typically, yes. (However, there are some exceptions below.)

  4. Why can't I tap my foreign-issued contactless card at most places in the US?

    This is likely because the store does not support EMV contactless. Foreign issued contactless cards typically do not support MSD contactless since other markets have had EMV for quite some time. In contrast, most stores in the US have yet to get the necessary certifications/software for EMV contactless so they are typically MSD-only--if contactless is enabled at all. (See below for a list of stores where your card will likely work.)

  5. I paid for a purchase with Apple/Android/Samsung Pay and still had to sign for it.

    Most likely, the store in question does not have EMV contactless enabled (see above question). However, there are instances where CDCVM does not work even with EMV contactless enabled. Restaurants that allow tip adjust, for example--where the tip amount is written on a paper receipt and entered by the staff later--cannot support CDCVM. It may simply be a matter of the merchant's processor or the POS software in use not supporting it too.

    Another common reason is if you used a US-issued AmEx card with a mobile wallet. AmEx currently does not allow EMV contactless support in mobile wallets for these cards, so they always run as MSD contactless. Because of this, CDCVM is not supported (with very few exceptions, as noted below).

    Note: if you used Samsung Pay, you may have paid with MST instead of NFC. Since MST emulates the magnetic pulses that the terminal receives when swiping a regular card, the normal magstripe rules apply.

  6. How can I tell whether EMV contactless was used?

    An easy way to tell if you have Apple Pay is to pay with a Visa or MC while in airplane mode. Wallet will then show a transaction amount next to "Payment" for the card that was used. Alternatively, EMV-related information will typically print on the receipt (AID, etc.) if EMV contactless was used.

(Non-exhaustive) list of EMV contactless supporting merchants in the US:
  • 7-Eleven
  • 99 Ranch
  • Albertsons (Safeway, Vons, Pak N Save, Jewel, Acme, Shaws, Star, Carrs, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Haggen, Eagle, Lucky UT/SoCal)
  • Apple Store*†
  • Athleta
  • Auntie Anne’s Pretzels
  • Banana Republic
  • Costco Wholesale
  • CVS
  • DuaneReade*
  • El Pollo Loco
  • EG Group US (Quik Stop, Kwik Shop, Tom Thumb, Turkey Hill) Note: cashier must press "Electronic Payment" to activate NFC
  • Five Below*
  • Five Guys
  • GAP
  • Grocery Outlet*
  • Harmon's Grocery
  • H&M*
  • Jolibee
  • Kohl's*
  • Lush Cosmetics*
  • Maverik
  • McDonald's*
  • Meijer
  • Old Navy
  • Panera Bread
  • PetSmart
  • Ray's Food Place
  • Round Table Pizza
  • Royal Farms
  • Red Ribbon Bakeshop
  • Sheetz
  • Sherm's Thunderbird Discount Markets Inc.*
  • Sprouts
  • Staples*
  • Starbucks*
  • Subway
  • Walgreens*
  • Weis Markets
  • All businesses that use Square and support contactless*
  • All businesses that use Clover and support EMV†**
  • All businesses that use First Data standalone terminals (e.g. FD100+FD35, FD130) with EMV enabled**

* CDCVM support confirmed
** CDCVM support depends on store/restaurant
† CDCVM supported in MSD mode
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USA contactless credit/debit/transit (2017 - 2021)

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Old Jul 10, 2021, 10:45 am
  #9406  
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Apparently mobile wallets have slightly lower interchange fees:

Within the scores of payment categories, there remains an interchange fee reduction on secure network tokenized transactions. J.P. Morgan said in a recent note that the 10-basis-point reduction may not shake out to a true reduction of that amount because rates for non-tokenized transactions will increase. Depending on the merchant, the vertical and the payment mix, the impact of interchange fees on the bottom line might vary.
I mean, 0.10% isn't that much and may not convince the likes of Walmart to change their minds on contactless support, but it's a start.
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Old Jul 10, 2021, 4:32 pm
  #9407  
 
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Mrs. Majuki and I went to Benihana last night, and they are indeed still doing pay at the table.
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Old Jul 10, 2021, 11:20 pm
  #9408  
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We found out today that Jo-Ann's accepts contactless now on their iSC250s. They fortunately do follow card network rules and activate all interfaces at the same time (when the cashier presses the Card button on their end). The behavior when inserting also seemed like they use Quick Chip too, if that matters to people. Just need to get Michaels on board and we'll be good in terms of craft stores.

Also, I remember a while ago reading about how Arco started accepting credit cards up in Washington. It looks like they extended that to all of them now; many of the ones that used to be debit/cash only around here have "credit cards now accepted" signs and new permanent signage with separate debit/cash and credit pricing. That basically leaves WinCo and Costco for debit-only acceptance as far as I know (if you ignore the latter's Visa acceptance, of course). It might be good to see if that resulted in getting EMV contactless outside as well.
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Old Jul 11, 2021, 6:21 pm
  #9409  
 
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Originally Posted by tmiw
It looks like they extended that to all of them now; many of the ones that used to be debit/cash only around here have "credit cards now accepted" signs and new permanent signage with separate debit/cash and credit pricing.
We stopped at one in Paso Robles on our way back up north on Monday, and it had the kiosk where you'd make a cash payment turned off. There was pay at the pump for debit only, but one had to go inside for non-debit. There was a customer facing payment terminal that said credit only, but I just paid in cash. The one nearby here has full pay at the pump with credit enabled as well.
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Old Jul 12, 2021, 2:53 am
  #9410  
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We went to Claim Jumper for the first time since I was a kid tonight and they used Revel tablets + iPP250s at each of the server stations as well as a customer-facing one at the host stand. Our cards got taken away when it was time to pay as per usual in the US but it may be possible to use contactless if you go pay at the front (untested) given the terminals were running default FreedomPay software/branding.

On that note, I recently turned on the Square app for the first time in a while too and there seems to be a "paper receipt" option. I'm sure it's not new but I did notice that they explicitly call out contactless/NFC as not being supported if you turn that on, so I guess that's how they're enforcing some form of customer facing hardware for contactless.
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Old Jul 12, 2021, 9:35 am
  #9411  
 
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Ran into a bit of a snafu in Poland and I am not sure where the problem lies.

My contactless transactions from Discover and from CFU get denied. Same cards work when tapped physically. My TD Cash Credit works with Google Pay as does my Polish debit card. Google pay registers the transactions and calls them "denied" but they do not appear on bank statements. So that's a bit weird. I had used Google Pay with Discover before, but it was on a different phone 2 years ago.

Also, got DCC'd on a tap recently at a bar.. both with Google Pay and with physical card. A bit upsetting, although was able to easily reject it. But that has not happened before on contactless transactions that did not require authorization
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Old Jul 12, 2021, 11:39 am
  #9412  
 
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Is OMNY now available at all subway stations in NYC or is it still only select stations?

Do I need to register contactless cards with the OMNY website before I can use them or can I just walk up to the OMNY terminal with any random contactless credit card and use it?
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Old Jul 12, 2021, 11:44 am
  #9413  
 
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Yes. All subway stations and buses. Tap any contactless card to pay, no registration necessary.
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Old Jul 12, 2021, 11:53 am
  #9414  
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Originally Posted by Barciur
Ran into a bit of a snafu in Poland and I am not sure where the problem lies.

My contactless transactions from Discover and from CFU get denied. Same cards work when tapped physically. My TD Cash Credit works with Google Pay as does my Polish debit card. Google pay registers the transactions and calls them "denied" but they do not appear on bank statements. So that's a bit weird. I had used Google Pay with Discover before, but it was on a different phone 2 years ago.

Also, got DCC'd on a tap recently at a bar.. both with Google Pay and with physical card. A bit upsetting, although was able to easily reject it. But that has not happened before on contactless transactions that did not require authorization
Has your phone had some sort of internet connection during the trip (Wi-Fi or LTE)? If not, you might have run into the offline token limit that Google Pay has.
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Old Jul 12, 2021, 12:33 pm
  #9415  
 
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I have a constant connection here, so that is not a problem. I am going to try removing and adding discover again and see if that does anything at all. The curious thing is that the TD card works just fine. The Polish card does also, which I am not surprised by.
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Old Jul 12, 2021, 3:00 pm
  #9416  
 
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Originally Posted by fliesdelta
Is OMNY now available at all subway stations in NYC or is it still only select stations?

Do I need to register contactless cards with the OMNY website before I can use them or can I just walk up to the OMNY terminal with any random contactless credit card and use it?
Registration is not required but if you do register you can pull up your travel history on their site. https://omny.info/
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Old Jul 13, 2021, 4:59 am
  #9417  
 
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I removed and re-added the Discover card while here in Poland and now it works. I assume it will be the same with Chase.

Interestingly enough, most places here I see accept Discover and even have a Discover logo, such as on the picture attached. Most places do not take Amex, though. It probably is the most expensive interchange-wise, as Amex is its own bank - although as is Discover, so who knows.


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Old Jul 13, 2021, 10:50 am
  #9418  
 
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Discover is linking with DCI in your particular region.
https://www.discover.com/credit-card...ional-use.html
https://www.discoverglobalnetwork.co...and-acceptance

My thought is when Discover was really looking for a suitor to buy them (Chase was close I think when they were squaring off against Visa primarily until Visa gave them "rented network" deal), they put some effort to really improve acceptance. In some countries, they built a really robust acceptance with local partners (like in China with CUP) or because they have the network (DCI). But advertising and having the merchant know what to do when presented with the physical card can be difficult. Of course, by tapping, you eliminate most of this because you have direct control with the terminal without the merchant caring what card was presented as long as the transaction is approved.

What I want to know is are you getting the 5% bonus this quarter for restaurants in your international travels from Discover (how good is the merchant categorization).
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Old Jul 13, 2021, 12:16 pm
  #9419  
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Originally Posted by Barciur
Most places do not take Amex, though. It probably is the most expensive interchange-wise, as Amex is its own bank - although as is Discover, so who knows.
I thought AmEx was subject to the same EU interchange caps as the others now. I know they weren't originally, though, or at least were given extra time.

Originally Posted by rasheed
Of course, by tapping, you eliminate most of this because you have direct control with the terminal without the merchant caring what card was presented as long as the transaction is approved.
Customer control of the terminal depends on the country, of course. If the "honor all cards" rule ever went away in the US, for instance, I could see contactless usage start being a bit more of an issue at some merchants. Then again, those same types of places tend to just insert or swipe all cards for customers anyway, so it might just mainly hit mobile wallet use.
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Old Jul 13, 2021, 12:19 pm
  #9420  
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A couple of years back, I went to tap my phone at the cashier stand after an Indian buffet lunch. I had mentioned American Express at one point, so the owner made a point of confirming I was not​​​​ trying to use American Express; he had control over preventing inserting Amex cards, but apparently was fixated on avoiding (unexpected) Amex fees via device.
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