PenFed Credit Union to Give Members the Ability to Tap to Pay with New Contactless Visa Credit and Debit Cards

Nation's second largest federal credit union among first to offer members cutting edge technology, making checkout fast, easy and secure

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PenFed Credit Union

Jan 15, 2019, 05:00 ET

TYSONS, Va., Jan. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- PenFed Credit Union, the nation's second largest federal credit union, is among the first credit card issuers in the U.S. to roll out new contactless Visa cards across its credit and debit portfolio, giving members the ability to tap to pay at checkout.

Beginning this month, PenFed members benefit from a fast, easy and secure checkout experience, saving valuable time by completing transactions with a single tap of their contactless Visa credit and debit cards. Contactless Visa credit and debit cards will be offered to new PenFed members and on an ongoing basis to current members as their cards are up for renewal or replacement.

"As a credit union, we are committed to bringing our members the best and most innovative products. That's why PenFed made it a priority to bring the contactless feature to our credit and debit card portfolio so that cardholders can operate with efficiency, speed and security whenever they use cards," said John Kelly, Executive Vice President of Consumer Banking at PenFed Credit Union. "We are proud to lead the way and stand toe-to-toe with the nation's leading financial institutions as one of the first credit card issuers in the country to make this feature available to our members."

Contactless cards make the checkout process simple and secure: a customer taps their card on the reader at millions of places that feature the Contactless Symbol, and the reader confirms payment, often with no signature required. PenFed contactless Visa cards include secure EMV® Chip technology, which has proven effective at reducing counterfeit fraud. Just like dipping the card into the chip reader, each contactless transaction produces a one-time code that securely protects information.

"At PenFed, we take pride in providing our members with the best service and technology available. The release of the contactless credit cards comes at a time when we're focusing on digital innovations and helping our members make purchases in the most convenient ways," said James Schenck, President and CEO of PenFed Credit Union and CEO of the PenFed Foundation. "Visa has been a longtime partner of PenFed and we're thrilled to collaborate with them on this new product rollout."

"Visa is committed to enabling fast, simple and secure payments experiences. We have seen consumers quickly embrace the speed, convenience and security of tapping to pay and are excited to work with PenFed to deliver this improved checkout experience for their members," said Dan Sanford, Vice President, Consumer Products, Visa.

Tapping to pay is becoming the standard way to checkout around the world, with more than 40 percent of all Visa in-store transactions outside of the U.S. occurring with a tap. Merchants across the U.S. have already enabled contactless payments, with 70 of the top 100 merchants, by number of transactions, offering the ability to tap to pay at checkout. PenFed members are benefitting from this improved checkout experience for things they buy every day.

The contactless feature adds to PenFed's suite of award-winning credit cards that are recognized by credit card industry-watchers for their simplicity and value. PenFed will continue to serve its members with innovative technology that will only simplify the financial decisions they make each day.

To learn more about the PenFed's suite of credit cards, visit our website.

About PenFed Credit Union

Established in 1935, Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) is America’s second-largest federal credit union, serving 1.7 million members worldwide with over $24 billion in assets. Our mission is to help members reach their financial potential. PenFed Credit Union offers market-leading certificates, checking, credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and a wide range of other financial services with members’ interests always in mind. PenFed Credit Union is federally insured by the NCUA and is an Equal Housing Lender. To learn more about PenFed Credit Union, visit PenFed.org, like us on Facebook and follow us @PenFed on Twitter. Interested in working for PenFed? Check us out on LinkedIn. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

SOURCE PenFed Credit Union