Chase Amtrak Card and Apple Pay

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at how well CurrentC does. I personally don't have a dog in this fight - I own a store and will support whatever customers want to pay with, but personally I want to just keep using my plastic cards. But as a retailer, I know that people care a lot more about shopping at the stores they want to shop at than paying with any particular method. The number of people who are going to stop shopping at Wal-Mart because of CurrentC is not going to be enough to make a dent in their profits. But their savings on the credit card fees surely will make a difference to their bottom line.

If people don't want to pay with CurrentC, they'll pay with cash or physical cards before they start shopping at a different store just to use Apple Pay (or Google Wallet). Of course there will always be exceptions, but not enough to matter.

Thanks for all the replies.

To bring it back more on topic....we should figure out the fate of the Chase AGR card. If Chase is dumping Mastercard and going to Visa...will they just simply reissue cards? Or will folks reapply? Maybe an opportunity to get a new welcome point bonus.

I forgot who the old car issuer was before Chase but I had that one for a few years. Then when the went to Chase, we were able to score another welcome point bonus (like 25,000 points).

Mike

Yeah, earning a new signup bonus would be nice.

I had to have my card replaced twice in the past month. First time was because the card ripped in half. Then I lost it. First replacement was exactly the same the first. Second was a new number, but same expiration date of 5/15. Was wondering if that meant anything.

When I got an email from Softcard indicating their closing, I downloaded Google Wallet. I signed up about 6 various debit/credit cards and none work where Softcard worked. Same error: MC Debit not allowed. Only tried on one vending machine so far...

I completely blew my boss away yesterday when we walked into a building at the Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and used my iPhone (and CSP card) to get a soda from a vending machine.

VentureForth said:

When I got an email from Softcard indicating their closing, I downloaded Google Wallet. I signed up about 6 various debit/credit cards and none work where Softcard worked. Same error: MC Debit not allowed. Only tried on one vending machine so far...

Click to expand...

My MC Debit cards work just fine with Google Wallet... I've only had issues adding pre-paid cards into Wallet (those ones you buy in a store for a set amount of money).

peter

RyanS said:

I completely blew my boss away yesterday when we walked into a building at the Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and used my iPhone (and CSP card) to get a soda from a vending machine.

Click to expand...

Well, I think --

This apparent fight amongst the payment systems, VISA vs MC, Google vs Apple, etc.

All the various systems have been skimming a percent or two off every transaction in the world, so it'll be a big fight amongst the banks and VISA, MC.

Even cash, as somebody upthread remarked, has transaction costs (but other advantages) -- hell, you should see my local WF small business fee for counting cash.

It's a fight between banks and credit card companies,

No way to tell how it will turn out.

Probably the banks and CC outfits will have to accept a slightly smaller skimoff - a few hundred billion or so, just to keep competitive.

Just had an interesting conversation with the Chase Card Services people, and even though not directly about Amtrak what I heard may have some relevance or not. only time will tell.

Initially I called to ask for replacing the grandfathered from pre-merger Unite Awards Visa Card to a chip card. The agent said oh that is simple he will just send me a replacement card with chip and that was that.

Since he was so straightforward and helpful I decided to push my luck and asked him about the grandfathered pre-merger Continental Presidential Plus Mastercard. To my greatest surprise he told me that I could either get it converted to Visa keeping everything (benefits and bonuses) the same (except the account number) and get a chip card immediately, or I could keep it as a Mastercard and get the chip card in July. I asked him whether I could get the chip card before my trip to Europe in two weeks. He said most certainly. Should have it middle of this coming week. So I took the plunge and asked to get it changed. Now to see what actually happens.

Oh yes, he also said that as soon as I get the Presidential Plus Visa Card I should be able to use it with Apple Pay. I forgot to ask him about Apple Pay and Mastercard.

But I thought that some might want to know about it here.

I wonder if Amtrak is having some issues with changing to Visa or is trying to renew the deal with Chase to keep the Mastercard. Or of course they could be about to change to some other provider too.

It looks and sounds like United is definitely staying with Chase and now have all their cards including all the grandfathered ones covered.

It looks like today was my conversion to Chip day. I converted every card that I have except for the AGR MC which they are unable to convert at present.