Are contactless cards safe?

K. ARAVIND 

 

Contactless cards offer the facility to pay without having to enter the PIN number of credit and debit cards at the point of sale machines in shops. Contactless cards can be used for transactions up to Rs.2,000 without entering the card number or PIN number.

 

The convenience of contact cards is that you can save time while paying with the card in shops and supermarkets. This type of transaction can be done at companies with point-of-sale machines that are capable of receiving signals from contactless cards. If the card is marked with an inclined WiFi icon, it indicates that it is a contactless card.

 

The transaction can be done only when the card point is within 4 cm of the sales machine. Therefore the card should be held close to the point of sale machine. But you do not have to enter the card number or PIN number on the machine. If you want to make a transaction above Rs. 2000, you have to swipe the machine and enter the PIN number.

 

Contactless cards have a chip and an antenna. The transaction is done using NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. These cards can connect to machines capable of using NFC technology, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

 

The card point is safe as the transaction can only be made within 4cm of the sales machine. The Contactless Payment Terminal can only handle one transaction at a time. So there is no need to worry about multiple terminals dealing with the card at the same time.

 

The biggest advantage of this is that the card can be transacted without having to transfer it to another person. Therefore, the risk of card cloning is reduced. Merchant also has the advantage of not being able to see details like card number.

 

At the same time, if the card is lost or stolen, there is a risk that another person can transact up to Rs 2,000 without a PIN number. In such cases, it is up to the bank to decide who will bear the loss. According to the existing rules, the bank has to refund the money lost through online scams without the knowledge of the customer.

 

Only one transaction can be made at a time in the contactless payment terminal. If it is cancelled during the transaction, it will not be possible to transact again through the terminal. In such cases you have to swipe at the point of sale machines and enter the PIN number to make the transaction again.