I just got a Blue Card from American Express. When Blue was first rolled out they put a smart chip on it so that you plugged the card into a reader hooked up to your PC and it generated a unique, one-time-only card number for you to use for online purchases. I wonder just how many people went to the trouble of ordering the reader, hooking it up, and taking the time to use it.
Maybe not many, because now Blue comes outfitted with an RFID chip inside. You wave your card in front of Express Pay readers and you've paid for your purchase. I've used this twice at 7-11 and love it. I realize it's only a gimmick to get you to put purchases on your card rather than use debit or cash, but I love junk like this. So far the only places that utilize Express Pay that I would frequent look to be 7-11, McDonald's, and Regal Cinemas.
I've already read a blog post about some guy making a "tinfoil hat" for his Amex Blue so people can't read his card and make fraudulent charges. There are tons of people who think RFID will be the downfall of mankind. Your card info's MUCH more likely to be gotten via a fake swiper placed over a normal card slot. I would hope American Express uses some type of challenge/answer routine in order to avoid such incidents. People balked when it was announced that new U.S. passports would include RFID. I see their concern, as terrorists hunting American citizens to kidnap is a bit more of a high-stakes matter than a few charges for gas and beer.
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