Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) has begun issuing Wells Fargo Visa Platinum Credit Cards and Wells Fargo Visa Signature Credit Cards with Visa Contactless to customers, and is on track to distribute 400,000 cards by the end of 2006.
Wells Fargo is distributing contactless cards to select customers as a replacement to their expired Wells Fargo Visa Platinum Credit Cards and Wells Fargo Visa Signature Credit Cards. Customers also can request their current cards be upgraded to include the contactless feature, and card account numbers will stay the same regardless of the contactless upgrade. Customers opening new credit card accounts will have the opportunity to request the feature later this year.
"Our contactless pilot program was very well received by our initial pilot group of Well Fargo team members and Visa merchants," said Peter Ho, Wells Fargo Card Services vice president and product manager. "We're confident our customers will embrace the convenience and speed the cards offer, and enjoy the benefit of being able to track their smaller purchases for greater financial control."
Cardholders can use Wells Fargo's free online money management tool - My Spending Report - to help better manage and protect their finances. My Spending Report automatically collects, categorizes and summarizes Wells Fargo accounts into one powerful, online report. Cardholders can quickly review purchases and their month-to-month spending habits for easier money management.
Wells Fargo's contactless cards also offer built-in security with the WellsProtect program. With this program, cardholders are protected against any unauthorized transactions made at merchants, over the phone, on the Internet, or at the ATM. Wells Fargo, along with Visa, protects cardholders from fraud with zero liability to the customer, when reported promptly. Wells Fargo ATM, Check Cards and Credit Cards are all covered by the WellsProtect program.
Consumers can use their contactless cards at thousands of Visa merchants nationwide, and can learn more about contactless card features and participating merchants online.
Wells Fargo is initially sourcing its contactless cards through the Visa Smart Breakthrough program, and is currently using cards manufactured by CPI Card Group powered by the MicroPass platform from INSIDE Contactless. The Visa Smart Breakthrough program can improve the economics, availability and performance of chip technology worldwide by making cards, terminals and personalization solutions more cost effective to financial institutions, merchants and consumers.
"As the world's leading payment brand, Visa plays a vital role in ensuring the successful deployment of new payment technologies like contactless," said Brian Triplett, senior vice president at Visa USA. "We are excited to see Wells Fargo take advantage of the Visa Smart Breakthrough program as they deploy Visa Contactless nationwide."