MasterCard has reported the results of its 2005 MasterCard Recurring Payments Awareness, Behavior & Attitude study that concludes that more than two thirds of US household now pay some recurring bills automatically (67 percent) compared to those writing checks (64 percent).

Nearly four in ten households link payments automatically to a credit card (38 percent) and three in ten households charge them automatically to a debit card (31 percent). In addition, among automatic bill paying households, the number of bills paid automatically rose in the last five years, from an average of 3.1 bills per household in 2000 to 4.4 bills today. During the same period, the number of checks written declined by nearly 50 percent, from 4.4 to 2.4 among these households.

Chase Bank has announced the rollout of its new Chase contactless credit cards with "blink" in the greater New York and Philadelphia metro areas. Chase will start delivering the new cards with blink to more than two million cardmembers in the New York metro area for use at an initial base of approximately 1,800 merchant locations. Beginning this week, Chase will deliver the new credit cards with blink to approximately 900,000 cardmembers in the Philadelphia area for use at an initial base of approximately 1,200 merchant locations.

Working in conjunction with Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International, Chase has identified locations where speed and convenience are important to consumers and is introducing the new Chase card with blink with an impressive roster of participating Philadelphia merchants.

The number of merchants accepting the Chase card with blink is expected to grow steadily throughout this year and into next year. The new Chase cards with blink also feature the traditional magnetic stripe and can be used anywhere Visa and MasterCard are accepted.

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