Chase updating some credit cards to contactless-new card email mystery

[FDC319]

Not sure if best forum or not.

This morning I received an email from Chase saying I received a new card and there were easy ways to update with the businesses that had that card on file.

Red alert for me, as I have not received a new card and neither of my two Chase cards(Amazon Prime and Sapphire Reserve) are due to expire any time soon.

No indication on the email regarding account number, and nothing strange in my account. Did someone open an account in my name-apparently not.

After slogging through some horrific phone menus, I finally reached a human who informed me that the Sapphire Reserve is being updated to contactless(however that works) and a new card was mailed 11 December.

Mystery solved-I really wish Chase had sent out a notification saying this was happening. Or maybe they did and I deleted it.

Hopefully this saves some folks the pleasure of hitting random mystery menu buttons on Chase's phone menu.

 

[Janet H]

Make friends with contactless payment. Basically you briefly hold your card very close to the little icon on the card swiper. it will beep when your card has been read and it means you don't have to push buttons, sign or touch any of those surfaces.

The little icon looks like this and not all swiper systems have this capability



While I am vaguely concerned about data theft with these cards, I am very grateful to not have to touch the machines these days.

 

[FDC319]

Neat. Thanks. I have thus far avoided all the contactless things. May give it a shot.

 

[braumeister]

Neat. Thanks. I have thus far avoided all the contactless things. May give it a shot.

Careful, that's a slippery slope.

You may eventually join those of us who can leave the cards at home and just jab the button on our wristwatch to pay at the counter.

Seriously, it's more secure than the old "swipe the mag strip on the back of the card" routine.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I’ve been using a contactless card for over a year. I keep my cards in RFID blocking sleeves. DS and DH have RFID blocking wallets. My passport sleeve is RFID blocking as well. I was told that data stealing could happen with regular chip card years ago.

 

[braumeister]

The thief does need to have a scanner within at most a few feet of your card in order to get the RFID information, so it's not as bad as many fear. Still, a blocking sleeve or wallet is certainly a good idea when traveling.

 

[musher]

I had exactly the same experience with Bank of America. Received an email stating my new card was on it's way. No other info. I don't have a problem with contactless, but I was irritated with the 2+ hours I had to spend with BOA on hold/talking to figure out why they were shipping a new card when I didn't request one and my current one hadn't expired.

 

[MichaelB]

The thief does need to have a scanner within at most a few feet of your card in order to get the RFID information, so it's not as bad as many fear. Still, a blocking sleeve or wallet is certainly a good idea when traveling.

Still, there are numerous consumer protections for fraudulent credit card transactions, and the burden is on the CC issuer, not the consumer. It they continue to issue new CC with RFID, they are less concerned with fraud.

 

[audreyh1]

Careful, that's a slippery slope.

You may eventually join those of us who can leave the cards at home and just jab the button on our wristwatch to pay at the counter.

Seriously, it's more secure than the old "swipe the mag strip on the back of the card" routine.

Thumbs up!

 

[braumeister]

That's certainly true.

But most people don't even realize that those little chips represent two different technologies.

EMV cards need to be inserted ("dipped") into the terminal, and can be fairly slow to process.

NFC cards just have to be placed near the terminal ("tapped" or "hovered") and the process is much faster.

Both are pretty secure.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Careful, that's a slippery slope.



You may eventually join those of us who can leave the cards at home and just jab the button on our wristwatch to pay at the counter.



Seriously, it's more secure than the old "swipe the mag strip on the back of the card" routine.

I’ve already done that too.

 

[2017ish]

Apart from the security, the best thing about contactless is the speed and (unless the retailer's software compels horse and buggy), no need to sign!

This summer and fall, I was amazed at how many retailers were joining the parade--then figured out that it was fear-of-virus related. Chalk up one benefit of the media interaction with the pandemic!

 

[FDC319]

I'm far from a luddite, but I think it will be a looong time before I start using things like Apple Pay, Apple Wallet, or take full advantage of contactless cards.

Now if one of my primary gas cards(3% rewards type) comes out with contactless, I will use it. One of the previous states I lived in had a huge problem with credit card skimmers at the pump.

Apple Watch--not a chance. Mainly because I stopped wearing watches on 20 August.

A someone amusing point is I am planning to do a product change with this Chase card in April before the fee is due. I LOVE this card and its benefits, but I do not do any hardcore traveling or vacationing which will make it worth the annual fee.

 

[mystang52]

my supermarket accepts my contactless AMEX. BUT, it then requires a tap on the screen to coinfirm "Credit" or "Debit" (my AMEX is not a debit card).

 

[FDC319]

my supermarket accepts my contactless AMEX. BUT, it then requires a tap on the screen to coinfirm "Credit" or "Debit" (my AMEX is not a debit card).

Contactless or not, I HATE that!

 

[Dash man]

I'm far from a luddite, but I think it will be a looong time before I start using things like Apple Pay, Apple Wallet, or take full advantage of contactless cards.

Now if one of my primary gas cards(3% rewards type) comes out with contactless, I will use it. One of the previous states I lived in had a huge problem with credit card skimmers at the pump.

Contactless cards and Apple Pay are pretty secure. My PenFed card is contactless and gives me 5% back on gas.

 

[ATX78701]

I used contactless ApplePay a total of 5 times. That was the number of times necessary to use it in one month in conjunction with my Chase Visa in 2018 to earn a $10 credit. After the credit posted, I’m back to the insert/swipe method. I tried on occasion to use contactless at Target, but I (insert old man emoji) couldn’t really figure out to I let the card hover over the terminal or tap the terminal or lay the card on the terminal? Contactless made it seem that only hover, but the terminal wasn’t responding with just a hover.

 

[braumeister]

I used contactless ApplePay a total of 5 times. That was the number of times necessary to use it in one month in conjunction with my Chase Visa in 2018 to earn a $10 credit. After the credit posted, I’m back to the insert/swipe method. I tried on occasion to use contactless at Target, but I (insert old man emoji) couldn’t really figure out to I let the card hover over the terminal or tap the terminal or lay the card on the terminal? Contactless made it seem that only hover, but the terminal wasn’t responding with just a hover.

With near-field communication (NFC), the range can be very short, depending on the terminal. For reliable performance, what you want to do is look for the symbol (see post #2 in this thread) on the machine and tap the card right on it. Hold it there until you hear the little beep (might take half a second or so).

 

[jazz4cash]

That's certainly true.

But most people don't even realize that those little chips represent two different technologies.

EMV cards need to be inserted ("dipped") into the terminal, and can be fairly slow to process.

NFC cards just have to be placed near the terminal ("tapped" or "hovered") and the process is much faster.

Both are pretty secure.

I’m curious about the specific technology used by the Square brand POS chip reader. It is nearly instantaneous and it’s the only one I don’t care about getting a paper receipt because I get a text immediately.

 

[jazz4cash]

Another plus for me is using Apple Pay so it even need to find my wallet and remove the card. Same for ATM withdrawals with my bank app. There have been a few times I forgot my wallet, didn’t realize it until I was checking out, and merchant did not have Apple Pay. I can get cash at the bank ATM with my phone.

 

[audreyh1]

We received new Chase cards last week and I was surprised as our cards had 2 years before expiring. I finally figured out that these new cards were contactless which seemed to be the difference.

I still prefer ApplePay.

 

[timbervest]

I am a total Apple Pay convert. Easy to use, don't have to fish out my wallet, the merchant doesn't every get your actual credit card number (Apple Pay gives an coded number). About as safe as you can be.