For many people, paying with a card is still associated with a “swipe” or a “dip”; however, for the owners of more than 370 million contactless cards accepted in over 8 million locations in 111 countries, they pay with a tap. Mastercard first introduced contactless cards back in 2003 to give consumers a safe and simple way to pay that helps speed them through the checkout line. And that same foundational technology (and many of the same standards) also powers our ability to pay with a phone.
Contactless technology was developed by Mastercard with the mindset of never sacrificing security for convenience. The cards and devices contain an embedded chip and a radio frequency (RFID) antenna that provide a wireless link with the contactless reader. When the card or device is tapped against the reader, information is transmitted in a highly secure manner within a fraction of a second.
But with contactless payment information being transmitted wirelessly, some people question whether it’s truly safe. The simple answer: yes.
- First, contactless payments require different information than those made over the phone or online. The cardholder’s name, three digit security code on the back of the card, and billing information like zip code are never transmitted. Instead, along with the account information, a one-time-only code is sent from the card or device to the reader to identify that transaction.
- Second, working with issuers, retailers and payment service providers, Mastercard uses robust fraud detection systems and artificial intelligence to spot suspicious activity and stop fraud in its tracks.
- Finally, cardholders can rest assured that if their card is compromised, they are protected with a global zero liability promise and will not be liable for unauthorized charges.
Despite these security measures, there are misconceptions about this technology. Let’s take a look at the myths and the realities of contactless payments:
| MYTHS | REALITIES |
| A thief can easily electronically pickpocket your contactless card/device. | While smart phone applications that enable the phone to read some of the data from a contactless enabled card or device do exist, they can only read the account number and expiration date. Plus, the thief would need to be physically close to the card in order to get this information. |
| If a thief does intercept your contactless information, they can create a counterfeit card to use in a store. | When a contactless transaction takes place the card or device provides the reader with a dynamic, one-time-only number that uniquely and securely identifies each specific transaction.It would be extremely difficult for a fraudster to copy the advanced encryption technology that is used to generate this dynamic number and create a functioning counterfeit version of a contactless card. |
| Even if a thief can’t counterfeit your card, they can make purchases online or by phone. | For a purchase to be authenticated and authorized via phone or online, typically several pieces of information must be presented – including the three-digit code on the back of a card and the cardholder’s name and billing address.Since the card or device does not send the code, billing address or zip code information or name over the contactless interface, the thief won’t have the information typically needed to conduct payment transactions, either in person, on the phone or online. |
| You are responsible for purchases made by thieves if they steal your card information | Mastercard protects consumers against fraudulent charges with a global zero liability policy. That means you are not held liable for unauthorized fraudulent transactions. |
| In addition to stealing your card data, thieves can also steal your identity. | There is a clear distinction between identity theft, where a consumer’s identity is assumed by another individual for criminal purposes, and payment card fraud, where a consumer’s card information is compromised and used to make unauthorized purchases.Mastercard contactless cards and devices do not transmit information about the cardholder such as name or address, so there is very little risk of actual identity theft.
But, knowing that identity theft is a concern for many people, Mastercard does offer an ID Theft Alert service to consumer credit and debit cardholders in the U.S. who can sign up at the following link: https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/consumers/payment-technologies/id-theft-protection.html. |
Hopefully, knowing all of the facts (and seeing through the fiction) helps ease your mind if you have a contactless card.
91 Comments
Contactless security is really an excellent feature of MasterCard. Thanks for clearing all the doubts.
The level of security needs to be improved, now there are many new loopholes to take personal advantage from credit card holders. thank you for inputting this useful information
I think this needs to be done deeper tests and finding out the flaws of Contactless security system
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What is.your card is stolen on a train from.your pocket and used by the thief before u are aware that u lost your card and blocked the same. This.could be hours since u r on d train
Contactless payments are the norm here in Australia and also in Europe. (USA seems to be well behind in this technology. ) Fraud is not an issue here and besides the consumer is 100% covered by the bank/card issuer in case of any misuse.
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Wireless technology has become so powerful that anyone can now do the transaction in a segment of a second. I went to a coffee shop, had a coffee, and started scanning the coffee shop wireless network. The WiFi name of that shop was too creative, I was amazed to see such a cool wifi name.
contactless is very helpful indeed. I don’t regret getting one.
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Imagine a Scenario:
The person who is having a contactless card in his pocket within the purse in a crowded are or bus or train
What if another person who is having a POS kind of machine in his pocket is very close to the first person.
Whether it permits successful transaction because they are very close to each other while they are in a crowded are?
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This is really all B.S.
Who the hell needs a contactless card, when I still have to sign the stupid pad when I make a purchase.
The whole idea of cards with chips was that you did not need the signature, you just authenticate the card with your pin number.
Worse of all nobody told me that those cards were made of metal, when I tried to shred an old card because some body stole the card Information using a wireless device, I destroyed my shredder instead.
I should charge the Credit Card company for a new shredder since they failed to warn the customers.
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The documentation I received with my (Standard Bank) Mastercard says that payments “up to a maximum of R200″ may be made with “tap to pay”. However the reality is far from this: several times I have “tapped” and paid up to R1000 for items without being asked for a pin. In all the time I have had this card, if I was asked to enter my pin more than 5 times I would be exaggerating. While I appreciate the convenience and time-saving, I do not appreciate the response I had from a Standard Bank consultant (Constantia Village) who told me that I was solely responsible for my card, and if it was stolen (without my knowledge) I would be responsible for any unathorised contactless payments made. Not very reassuring, especially given the consultant’s very dismissive attitude. Banks are negligent in that they do not alert customers to these facts. I am currently researching methods of physically disabling tap-to-pay on my card, or, failing that, move to a bank that offers cards without this technology.
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Contactless payments are also quicker because payments are processed in batches
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It’s mentioned here that in order for a thief to electronically pickpocket your card the thief has to be really close to you. I don’t think that’s too difficult to do. Suppose a thief observes you as you make your payment and then follows you into a crowded lift (or elevator). He then brushes his backpack against you pocket pretending to be turning around. These are moves people can easily master.
So Myth Number One really is true. The RF spews account number and expiry date for electronic pickpocket. That’s enough info for old-style transaction. Really lame of them to leave that info freely available.
I had this feature on a card I use exclusively for Amazon. Five seconds in a microwave oven turns off the electronic features of the card.
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If the rfid card is lost and a found by someone else, he can misuse it easily . No PIN or any such thing is asked. At least in a non rfid card every purchase is requires a PIN to be given.
Then where is the security in such a scenario?
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I understand the security around a thief not being able to steal your information wirelessly . It I were to loose the physical card someone could pick up the card and use it up to a value of $100.00 at a time. Some times a couple of week would go by with using my card and I would not realize that the card was missing during that time.Several hundred dollars could be charged.
Where would this leave the card holder.
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The questions have been carefully crafted and answered about a topic which cannot be summarized in 5 simple Q&A’s. There are plenty of Youtubes or articles on the WEB about how Contactless info can be read without knowledge, hackers, university security / engineering experiments, etc…
Regarding Q&A 1: Have you ever been on a NYC subway at rush hour when you are touching the rider behind you? The other passengers and their possessions are touching your wallet pocket! What if there is a portable contactless Point-Of-Sale terminal in someone else’s backpack touching your pocket? Or a RFID reader?
Could a transaction be processed without your knowledge? Of course! Could they obtain your credit card #’s and expirations? Apparently so, since that’s readable.
Q&A 2: The answer is “extremely difficult”. But apparently not impossible!? With cryptography and High Performance Computing changing rapidly, computational tasks get easier decode as time goes by.
Also there appears to be no limit to the charges (here in the US), on contactless transactions. Not limited to small purchases like I have read about in some places outside the US. Also, my EMV (chip) credit cards have NEVER needed a PIN, and only sometimes ask for a signature at a POS terminal. My new contactless card (which I do not want) did not come with a PIN. So a lost card is a good time for the finder.
Personally I’d prefer to disable the contactless technology on my card. They should give you that option. It could easily be done, permanently: by a little punch out hole on the card that severs the connection to the antenna on the card; or temporarily: by a sliding “switch” on the card (like you have on a SD memory card), so you could enable or disable the antenna as desired.
My 2 cents.
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This is false! I had a MasterCard issued by Global Cash and it was stolen. I reported it as stolen within 2h after it was stolen. In the time between it being stolen and suspended the theaves managed to get to a shop and tap the card 15 times for $25.5 each. Taking a total of $382.5.
I called to dispute the transactions only to be told by MasterCard that I need to take it up with the bank that issued the card. MasterCard does not provide protection when the card is tapped for amounts under $50. Global cash said I need to pay $40 for an investigation per transaction and that even if I am successful the $40 is not refundable.
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