To enhance the customer experience when traveling internationally, Chase Card Services, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. [NYSE: JPM], and British Airways [LON: IAG] announced today that EMV chip-with-signature technology is now available on the British Airways Visa® Card.
“The addition of EMV chip-with-signature to the British Airways Visa Card offers cardmembers a higher level of convenience,” said Naney Pandit, general manager, Chase Card Services. “Since most of our cardmembers frequently travel abroad, we want to provide them with benefits that make them feel right at home, no matter where they are. Cardmembers can now use the British Airways Card at any chip-enabled, point-of-sale device, such as train ticket kiosk, restaurant or gas station.”
The British Airways Visa Card has EMV chip-with-signature technology that features a microchip as well as a traditional magnetic strip to accommodate merchants in the United States. The embedded microchip makes the card extremely difficult to copy, because the encrypted chip enables safer processing and storage of data. Chip technology is the gold standard in Europe, Canada, and regions of Africa and Asia, among other geographies.
“We are continuously enhancing our benefits with our customers’ best interest in mind. The new EMV chip-with-signature provides our globally minded flyers with a safe and convenient way to make transactions when overseas,” said Andrea Burchett of The Mileage Company, operators of British Airways’ Avios currency and rewards. “The addition of EMV chip-with-signature technology makes the British Airways Visa card the first airline cobranded credit card issued in the United States that is chip-enabled, which is just one of the many valuable benefits afforded to our loyal customers.”
In addition to the added convenience, the British Airways Visa Card does not charge foreign transaction fees, delivering up to three percent savings on international purchases. Cardmembers earn 2.5 Avios, the new British Airways Executive Club currency, for every $1 spent on British Airways purchases. All other purchases earn 1.25 Avios for every $1 spent. Cardmembers also have the option to redeem Avios for future travel on British Airways or any one of its 11 oneworld® alliance partners: American Airlines®, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Lan Airlines, Malév, Mexicana®, Qantas, Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines. Cardmembers may also use their miles to upgrade their seat to a higher class of service.
The British Airways chip-with-signature credit card can be used everywhere traditional magnetic strip cards are accepted in the U.S. and in more than 130 countries abroad where chip technology is implemented.
Today’s announcement also marks the third credit card in the Chase portfolio and the first airline co-brand card to offer EMV chip-with-signature technology. Earlier this year, Chase became the first major U.S. bank to offer this innovation to its customers.
About British Airways
British Airways is the UK’s largest international scheduled airline. It flies its customers at convenient times to the best located airports across the world.
It is one of the world’s leading global premium airlines and its principal place of business is London with significant presence at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City. British Airways also operates a worldwide air cargo business, largely in conjunction with its scheduled passenger services.
The airline operates one of the most extensive international scheduled airline route networks and, together with its joint business agreement, codeshare and franchise partners, flies to more than 400 destinations worldwide. In the nine months to December 2010, it carried nearly 24 million passengers.
British Airways is also a founding member of oneworld, the alliance of airlines around the globe, which together serves some 700 destinations, and offers the best connections.
Whether customers are in the air or on the ground, British Airways takes pride in providing a full service experience.
More information is available at www.ba.com.
About The Mileage Company
The Mileage Company, headquartered in the UK with a US operations branch, works with over 200 brands world-wide to drive customer engagement and loyalty with compelling rewards programs. In-depth expertise provided by The Mileage Company includes research and loyalty analytics, customer relationship management (CRM) and loyalty marketing and accounting skills associated with loyalty schemes enabling clients to focus on their core business while rewarding customer loyalty and in turn driving profit and growth. For more information visit www.themileagecompany.com
About Chase
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.3 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. Chase serves consumers and small businesses through 5,200 bank branches, 16,200 ATMs, mortgage offices, and online and mobile banking as well as through relationships with auto dealerships and schools and universities. Chase also has issued more than 90 million credit cards. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.
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