There are so many ways to pay with credit and debit cards these days, and contactless cards are one of the latest ways to pay at the register. So, what is a contactless card? Are contactless cards safe and secure? And where can you use them? Keep reading to find out.
Go contactless
Enjoy the security and speed of contactless payments.
Key takeaways
- Contactless credit and debit cards let you make purchases by tapping or holding your card over a payment terminal.
- Using tap to pay can be a more convenient and secure way to make purchases than swiping or inserting your credit card.
- Credit or debit cards that have contactless technology feature a symbol of four curved lines that look a bit like the Wi-Fi symbol turned on its side.
What is a contactless credit card?
Contactless cards work a lot like mobile wallets. The transaction is completed by holding or tapping the card on a contactless-enabled card reader. The technology is also known as “tap to pay” or “tap and go.”
It’s up to 10 times faster than swiping, inserting, or using cash. Plus, it keeps your info secure and your hands off the card reader. And if your credit card is attached to a digital wallet like Apple Pay® or Google Pay®, you can also make payments by tapping your smartphone, smartwatch, or other connected device.
How can I tell if my credit card is contactless?
To check whether your is contactless, just look for the contactless symbol on the front or back of your card. The contactless symbol is four vertical, curved lines that get bigger from left to right—like the Wi-Fi symbol turned on its side.
Are contactless payments secure? Yes.
Magnetic stripe cards are easy to clone, and identity thieves can quickly read the data on the card and use it for illegal purposes. This can create a complex mess that can take months or longer to unravel. In contrast, contactless payments are much more secure because they use a single-use token that contains no actual card details.
In contrast, a contactless payment is authenticated, drastically reducing the chances that an identity thief can appropriate the cardholder’s data. A single-use token is sent to the payment terminal to complete the purchase transaction during a contactless payment. The token contains no actual card details, making it very unlikely that a hacker can obtain anything of value from that transaction.
Identity thieves with portable NFC card readers don’t pose a viable threat, either. First, they would have to get within 4-10 centimeters of your wallet to access the NFC card data. And, because the card data is tokenized, the thieves would only obtain digital gibberish for their efforts.