Subway plans to install contactless payment technology at more than 7,000 U.S. restaurants.
The system will allow customers to pay for items using smart phones, keychain fobs, plastic cards and other devices.
The technology will be in place by the end of the first quarter of 2012, according to payment card provider MasterCard Worldwide, which is providing the 34,500-unit quick-service chain with its PayPass system.
Subway joins a growing number of chains implementing the technology, including McDonald’s, Jack in the Box and 7-Eleven.
Other chains — including Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s — let customers pay via smartphone apps with payment cards when they order.
”Our fans are accustomed to having choices when they walk through our doors. Now with MasterCard PayPass, they'll have another payment choice that is convenient and easy to use,” Subway global chief marketing officer Tony Pace said in a release.
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