monksy

I just found out today that the contactless card that Chase gave me was charged transit fare instead of my transit card (ventra). I commute daily with the CTA.. so this whole guessing game about which will register is a problem.

1. Is there a way to safely disable to contactless functionality. (I'm not sure I have access to an xray machine)
2. How has other people's expereince been with asking for non-contactless cards with other providers? Chase just flat out said "we can't offer a non-contactless card". The CSR then tried to go on about how it can be emotional/and frustrating.

EmailKid

In Canada, where contactless is actually fairly common, scammers have apparently tried to steal CC info by being in proximity of users.

Wallets that block wireless signal can be used to avoid that. Not sure if they are for sale in US.

monksy

Yea they had a quick spiel queued up for "Rfid concerns". I've got to say this call was quite frustrating. It was pretty much a we rolled this out (stupidly) and don't care. Then they played the fake empathy card.

tmiw

To be fair, CTA does warn against this sort of thing:

If you want to continue tapping your wallet instead of removing the desired card, however, a RFID shield as mentioned above is probably your best bet.

mia

If the problem is simply that you have more than one RFID card in your wallet, the free solution is to keep the transit card separately. The cheap solution is to buy (or make) an inexpensive sleeve.

storewanderer

Why would you want to disable the Contactless function on the card just due to this one issue with the mass transit? Just take out the Ventra card when you pay and you will not have a problem.

Then you can use the Contactless card at various merchants and have the same "fast and easy" experience at the merchants as you have using the Ventra card on the mass transit.

It is a win win.

It was not "stupid" at all for Chase to roll out Contactless payment. It is the global standard for credit card transactions and is the most frequently used processing method for in person credit card transactions in Canada, UK, Australia, and various other countries. All those places have mass transit and special cards for mass transit too and those folks have figured out how to make both work together.

It should not be that difficult. If it is, just ditch the Ventra card and let all of your fares be charged through the Chase card. Then you only have to deal with one card.

I assume there is a fare discount if you use the Ventra card so if it is worth it to you to get that discount then the very minimal effort to actually make sure that Ventra card is the one closest to the fare reader should not be a big deal.

Or if you are really that against the Contactless card you could just get rid of the Chase card... but most other issuers will be issuing Contactless cards in the coming years too so that is not going to be a long term solution.

Personally I am very pleased Chase has started to issue Contactless cards again, like they did a decade ago, and like so many other issuers in other countries. I've been making the suggestion to them periodically over the past few years and am pleased they finally did it.

storewanderer

And that information is largely useless to those scammers with EMV Contactless technology that gives each transaction a unique key just like a physical chip card since you can't just recreate the card and do swipes anymore like in the old days. It was a problem 15 years ago but technology has since gotten ahead of that making Contactless the fastest, most secure, global standard for credit card payments.

mikesyr18

Here's an idea, buy an RFID blocking wallet.

There are real things to worry about in the world than changing your up to date contactless card to a non-contactless version.

This is why the US can't have normal credit cards and had primarily magnetic stripe only cards a few years ago.

der_saeufer

I currently have (counts them) five contactless cards in my wallet, and the CSR was #5 ... you have a few options:

• Take it out. This is the obvious and foolproof, if less convenient, answer.
• Put them on different sides of your wallet. I have my local transit card on one side of the wallet and my other transit card and payment cards on the other. It's easy to tap in a way where the reader can only see the one card by itself. On a standard bifold wallet, put your hand between the halves.
• Chicago-specific, if you're paying with your own money just use your Chase card--you can add passes to contactless credit cards at the CTA vending machines now, and transfers finally work too. If you're using transit benefits or pre-tax deductions, nevermind this one.

You could join the ranks of the paranoid and buy an RFID-blocking wallet, but then you'll definitely have to take your card out.

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?

I commute and get arround the city every day. The only payment/transaction card in my wallet that has stayed that way has been the CTA Ventra card. My CCs barely last 1 year now. (Someone gets your number and then you get a new card) I don't want to be screwed because the CC wants to take control of that. Also, I don't trust the "pass support" on the CC.

I'm pleased they offer Google pay support. However, not providing an option to avoid that.. that's the irritating thing.

mia

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.

tmiw

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.

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.

VegasGambler

It sounds like this was a transaction that you didn't authorize. Just do a charge-back, for that reason.

tmiw

The transaction was authorized, just not with the desired payment instrument. While there is a chargeback code for that, it might be a tough sell without evidence that one intended on using Ventra instead.

Low Roller

It is so much quicker and easier than having to insert a card and enter a pin, especially for drive thru coffee. I like it so much that I get annoyed when it doesn't work and I have to insert the card and enter a pin. If you want to use your transit card without taking it out of your wallet, just put the credit card in an rfid sleeve so that it doesn't get accidentally read again.