These new MasterCard no touch PayPass cards look and sound pretty slick:

Just one tap of your MasterCard PayPass card on the PayPass reader at participating locations and you’re good to go. It works just like your traditional MasterCard card - but no more swiping or giving your card to cashiers.

I’m not a huge plastic guy because I believe credit card companies prey on most of their (heavy debt especially) customers with their fees and interest which can raise as high as nearly 25% but I can totally get behind a card that makes it easier and less hassle to pay. Assuming of course that the security is still there.

Speaking at an industry conference here, Ruth Ann Marshall, Americas president for MasterCard, said that Citibank, HSBC and Key Bank had all begun offering the cards, which are equipped with a radio-frequency chip that allows customers to pay for purchases by simply waving their cards at readers posted near cash registers or gas pumps.

What I want to see is RFID in groceries so it’s as easy as going to the exit and waving one of these cards on the way out. The ultimate way to not get over charged for groceries or have to wait in line while everything put into the cart is taken out of the cart and scanned and then put back into the cart only to take out of the cart and put into the car. That’s not only a breathless run-on sentence, that’s a major waste in time and energy.

• Mastercard #1 for first time in 25 years, VISA #2
• eBay slows, PayPal grows
• RFID in passports starting in December
• Incentive for waiting on hold, smart!
• Revisiting the Paypal Virtual Mastercard, er, now PayPal Secure Card?
• Canceling all credit cards