American Express Bank was one of the first companies to offer credit cards with more than one feature. Even their Blue credit card is the same. Blue from American Express was introduced in 1999. It doesn't have an annual fee, has a great rewards programme, and has a lot of other features and benefits. But the best was yet to come, though not for a few years.
RFID Credit Card Since June 2005, all Blue credit cards from American Express have had an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) transponder added to the traditional magnetic strip. RFID lets information be sent wirelessly between two or more objects that are close to each other. This means that when you buy something at a store that accepts American Express ExpressPay, all you have to do is tap your credit card against the RFID reader or hold it an inch or two away from it. The goods will be charged to your card.
American Express says that the biggest benefit of using an RFID system is that it makes transactions go faster. During the Proof of Concept and Pilot phases of the project, data was collected that showed paying with an RFID Blue from American Express card is 63% faster than paying with cash and 53% faster than using a traditional credit card.
RFID Key Fob: Along with Texas Instruments RFID Systems, American Express also released an RFID key fob that anyone with a Blue from American Express credit card can get. The key fob can be attached to most key chains and can be used instead of a credit card to buy things like gas and food. This means that you don't really need to bring your wallet when you go shopping.
As a Blue card holder, all purchases made with your RFID key fob are charged directly to your credit card account. These charges will show up on your credit card bill every month. ExpressPay purchases are highlighted, as are the name of the merchant, the date, and the amount spent. This lets you tell the difference between purchases made with an RFID key fob and purchases made with a card. A daily limit of $150 is put in place.
You can get an RFID key fob for each Blue account you have if you have more than one.
Security for RFID As with all wireless technologies, there may be concerns about the safety of credit card transactions. The company tells people who have American Express Blue credit cards that they are very safe. Data encryption, similar to what is used for the RFID chip in the US Passport, is used to make sure that private information is not shared. As with all American Express credit cards, the Blue card with RFID protects its owners from theft and fraudulent use.
The Blue from American Express credit card has become one of the most popular credit cards among young adults because it has a modern look and features that are newer.
