Benefits of Contactless Credit Card Technology
Posted July 13th, 2010 and last modified March 15th, 2011In today’s fast paced society, every day something bursts onto the scene that promises to change the way we live, shop, communicate, work and play.
Now credit card companies have created a new technology that allows us to use our cards, without actually coming into direct contact with any card scanner or machine. They are called the contactless credit card.
How Does a Contactless Credit Card Work?
These new cards work using radio frequencies. Communication between credit card and terminal are completed through radio waves. It will work as long as the card is 4 centimetres or less from the terminal.
Whereas before you would have to have your card swiped or inserted into a card reader, now with these new breed of card, you will simply have to “wave” your card at the till!
MasterCard PayPass Contactless Credit Cards Comparison
When Can I Use Them?
Both Visa and MasterCard have been slowly introducing the new cards onto the market, however they have not yet been mass marketed as there are not many retailers who yet have the machinery to accept the contactless credit card.
If you have been sent a new credit card in recent months however, it may well be that you have one of these new cards, and could use it in some of the few thousand retailers that are accepting the new form of payment. 7-Eleven and Sumo Salad are just two such retailers.
The main point of these cards is to try and replace all cash transactions, which according to research done by Visa account for 70% of all transactions across Australia.
Security Concern
There some early concerns about the safety of the new credit cards, as they appear to be quite open to “skimming attacks.
Fraudsters usually have to actually hold a credit card in their hands in order to clone them, and use them for unlawful payments. With these new cards, the fear is anyone that had access to a card reader, would be able to gather information from a credit card, and create a cheap clone to make unlawful purchases.
Although the card companies currently refute these suggestions, people will still be concerned. As security is tightened you can expect to see these cards become more common place, as gradually the old swipe style credit card is phased out, and the new contactless credit card becomes the format of choice.
One thing is for sure, in the near future, regardless of how much money we actually have, the amount of actually money we carry will be reduced to almost nothing as plastic replaces dollars.
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