January 12, 2006
ePaynews.com: By end-2005, about 15,000 retailers in the U.S. were predicted to accept Visa-branded contactless payment cards, with Visa USA estimating the total to exceed 35,000 by the end of 2006. As of December 2005, more than 4.3 million MasterCard PayPass cards and fobs were in circulation in the U.S., and about 25,000 merchants accepted PayPass. Most merchants have reported positive experiences with contactless payments, even if readers for POS terminals cost between $100 and $150, with a definite payback of increased purchase volume.