This is part two of our Point/ Counterpoint series, in which we present two opposing views on Chase's new blink credit card. (Click here or scroll down for Part 1.)

For background information, read RFID Credit Card - Blink.
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One Step Closer to a Cashless Society by Anita Campbell
Back in December of 2004 I predicted that contactless payment systems would really heat up and we would see more activity in 2005.

Well it turns out that my prediction holds mainly to the United States. Why? Because worldwide, contactless payment systems and other contactless cards already are hot.

They are the single largest market for RFID, according to IDTechEx. Usage of such payment systems and other "smart cards" is widespread today in Asia and parts of Europe.

And even in the United States, RFID-enabled payment systems have been in use for years. They just haven't captured the public's attention as much as the Blink card.

Exxon Mobil has offered its SpeedPass payment system for several years, usable at gas stations across the U.S. For paying tolls on toll roads, there is E-ZPass, another RFID-enabled payment system that has been in use for years.

If past experience with SpeedPass and E-ZPass is a good indication -- and I think it is -- such systems are secure, convenient and good for consumers.

Let's break down how the consumer deals with such cards.

In the United States, according to Federal law, an individual consumer has very limited potential liability for unauthorized use of a credit card. Your maximum liability under law is $50, under any circumstances. If you report the loss of the card right away you have zero liability.

What's more, as a matter of company policy, many credit card issuers do not try to hold consumers even to the $50 rule. If it is clear the card was used by someone else, the largest credit card issuers simply wipe out all unauthorized charges, period.

In their FAQs for the new Blink card, Chase reiterates the security features of the card:

10. Are blink purchases secure?
Yes. As always, you are 100% protected against any unauthorized purchases. These transactions are safe because they are protected by an additional level of encrypted security. You must deliberately use the Chase card with blink at the point-of-sale to make a transaction. The Chase card with blink needs to be within an inch of the special reader and correctly oriented to be read. In addition, blink transactions use specific data that is protected by the highest level of security.

The chances of wrong-doers being able to sniff out your credit card information and use it wrongly is highly unlikely, due to the encryption of data and the need to hold the card so close to the reader.

Moreover, the merchant still may require a signature for charges over $25. That's pretty much the same as how ordinary credit cards are handled today.

For certain small ticket purchases, such as at the gas pump, I use my credit card without signing. As far as the merchant is concerned, it could be anyone using my card.

And when I do sign, it isn't much different. Perhaps in only 1 out of 100 times does the cashier ever bother to look at my signature -- I could be writing "Minnie Mouse" for all they notice.

And that doesn't even count the number of times I give out my card number sight unseen, by phone or over the Internet, sometimes on big ticket purchases.

Whether the card has an RFID chip in it or not, my behavior in how I use the card is not likely to change. The only thing that is likely to change is whether I need to swipe the card, hand it to the cashier, or simply wave it, at the point of sale.

In short, I think it's mostly the idea of the capabilities of RFID that has people spooked. That will take some getting used to. New technology implementations always do.

But when consumers stop to think through how credit cards are being used today, and then how the cards with RFID chips in them will be used, they will realize the two scenarios really aren't much different. They will come to a comfort level with the RFID-enabled cards.