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American Express has launched a new method of credit card payment using radio frequency identification technology. Their Express Pay card is called a “contactless payment option,” enabling consumers to wave the card in front of a reader to pay for items at a store. Recently American Express formed a joint venture with ShopRite supermarkets on the East Coast to use it’s Express Pay option. The tiny radio emitting chips in the cards are in wide use throughout European banks. In addition to ease of use, companies promoting the card claim that the storage of encrypted data in the chip makes it harder for thieves to use if the card is lost or stolen, compared with magnetic stripe cards. But the US-based consumer group, CASPIAN, has confronted American Express about what it calls “people-tracking plans.” In a patent application, titled “Method and System for Facilitating a Shopping Experience,” the company describes a blueprint for monitoring consumers through RFID-enabled objects, like the American Express Blue Card. RFID or Radio Frequency Identification is a controversial technology that uses tiny microchips to track items from a distance. Nicknamed “spychips” these microchips contain a unique identification number, like a Social Security number, for things that can be read silently and invisibly by radio waves.

For more information, visit www.spychips.com.