Sam’s Club’s newest, the MasterCard Credit Card
We all know Sam’s Club one of the top ten retailers in the United States. A subsidiary of the largest chain of multinational retail stores, it is owned and operated and named after the foundation of the Wal-Mart stores, Sam Walton. It is basically the leading membership-based warehouse club; second only to the Costco warehouses that offer superior services and goods to its customers.
Keeping in line with the exclusivity that it offers to the members, Sam’s Club has long since made available store credit lines to businesses and individuals that have linked directly to the membership card.
Although previously offering a credit card through the Discover network, as of June 2014, Sam’s Club has come out with a new credit card and this time co-branded with MasterCard Inc.
Issued by the GE Capital Retail Bank, the Sam’s Credit Card is said to be the first of its kind in store and club cards to offer its customers chip-enabled smart cards. These credit cards will not only use the magnetic strip, but also a microchip embedded inside them to store the data needed to verify transactions.
With the release of this collaborated card, Sam’s Club is revolutionizing the security provided by store or club credit cards against fraudulent activity. This is a push towards a safer and more secure customer service. The use of a microchip-enabled card makes counterfeiting a near impossible task. This enhances the in-store security of its customers to a whole new level.
Going a step further the Sam’s Club MasterCard will also implement another major security technology; that is the PIN code. These PIN codes are said to be significantly more difficult to fake than a roughly scrawled signature. Although the Sam’s Club MasterCard users will primarily be verified by the signature, for the time being, the release of this new card is said to be a roadmap to more secure transactions.
Using the EMV chip technology, the Sam’s MasterCard will be available to the Sam’s Savings, Sam’s Business and Sam’s Plus members in the US and Puerto Rico. The Sam’s Club MasterCard can be used at any and all Sam’s Club locations along with anywhere else the MasterCards may be accepted.
This brand new smart card, Sam’s Club MasterCard credit card, that has been in effect since June 23rd, 2014, comes at a time where several of the major retailers have found themselves targeted by cyber attacks. This has resulted in thefts worth hundreds of consumers’ data and millions of dollars lost in the repair of the systems.
As if the added security wasn’t enough to attract new customers, the new Sam’s Club MasterCard comes with a pretty great rewards program. A 5-3-1 cash-back guarantee on fuel, dining and travel and all other purchases sweetens the deal for new and old consumers, all the more.
