Tap to Pay is Here!
Ascentra cardholders are beginning to experience the ease of paying with Tap to Pay now that it is available on their Ascentra debit card (started March 5, 2025).
Tap to Pay
What, no more inserting a chip card or swiping at the merchant terminals? Yes, look for the Tap to Pay symbol when making an in-person purchase and tap your card to pay.
Security is top of mind for everyone. Tap to Pay and mobile wallets provide an extra layer of security through tokenization of your card number when using at store terminals. What is tokenization you ask? A tokenized payment means that instead of transmitting your actual card details, a unique, temporary code (or token), is used to represent your 16-digit card number during an in-person transaction, significantly enhancing security by preventing the exposure of your sensitive card data. Mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Garmin Pay) are offered today for Ascentra cardholders, and we encourage everyone to use this technology for added protection. As we transition cardholders to their new Ascentra cards, mobile wallet technology may have a waiting period of up to 30 days, following card activation, to incorporate the newly issued 16-digit card numbers. Until your new card can be recognized in the mobile wallets, we ask that you Tap to Pay to have the same level of security. Ascentra will make sure to let you know as soon as mobile wallet is available.
CURewards
What you need to know is that even though our debit cards started earning points in March and you can see your points balance in Digital Banking, our new CURewards website will not launch until April 1. When the site launches, you will need to enroll your debit card to redeem any available points. Then in May, once your credit card is received and activated, you can enroll your credit card too. Then, let the spending begin as you will be able to redeem debit and credit points as soon as they are shown in your points balance.
A reward program has been offered to Ascentra's cardholders for several years and we know this is an exciting perk for our membership! As we introduce our new credit cards, there will be a small disruption in our credit rewards program until credit cards are activated in early May. Our new CURewards will then be earning points for both debit and credit purchases that can be redeemed for cashback, quality merchandise, exciting travel or a donation to the Ascentra Credit Union Foundation.
Automatic Payments
New card designs? New card numbers? All credit cardholders will receive a newly designed card, with a new 16-digit card number, expiration date and CVV code. We want our cardholders to have the most up-to-date technology and security features so new card numbers need to be created to deploy these important enhancements. Cardholders who are making automatic payments with their existing credit card will need to get the payment switched to their new Ascentra Visa® card information.
Issuing a new credit card to our membership is a large task, and we want to make sure we are communicating with you along the way. It is still important that your current mailing address, email and cell phone numbers are up to date within our records for the credit card launch in May. Communication will be delivered to you via all three of these methods, and of course, your new credit card(s) will be mailed to your physical address. Stop in any of our branch locations, give us a call or chat with us at ascentra.org to ensure we have your most up-to-date information.
We are so excited to bring you contactless, Tap to Pay Visa® Credit cards! Get ready and watch for communications over the next few months from our Ascentra team as we begin to deliver more information about them coming to you in May.
Thank you for your continued membership!