Visa’s Fob Lobbed Into Contactless Play

The fob wars in contactless payments got another entrant as Visa launched its new chip-based Micro Tag device. Micro Tag, Visa’s smallest contactless device to date, is a blue keychain device that works with Visa store-based PayWave terminals, and offers extra layers of security beyond mag-stripe contactless cards and tokens, and even beats out its smart-card chip-based cousins in that names and numbers aren’t embossed on its exterior. Visa, along with American Express, is vying to catch up with MasterCard’s PayPass system (which reportedly works with 11 million contactless cards and devices in circulation). It decided a good way to launch the product was to offer 1,000 free tokens to San Francisco Giants fans at a Sept. 26 game at AT&T Park, with each device loaded with $15 for concession and souviner prices. Unfortunately, the fob would not have been handy in buying any collectible home run ball mashed by Giants superstar Barry Bonds: the fobs are only good for purchases under $25.