Contactless payments have taken the commerce world by storm. Advocates believe that contactless cards will protect the sensitive financial information of consumers. EMV cards (created by Europay, Visa and Matercard) have a processing chip. This is replacing the old magnetic strip that can be easily duplicated to commit fraud. This chip is supposed to reduce the risk of fraud due to a unique code that is transmitted during every transaction. But a small number of consumers are rejecting contactless payments in the UK, opting instead for traditional cards.
Amongst a massive movement of payment terminal upgrades, a significant amount of consumers are requesting non-contactless cards. According to recent figures released by the Royal Bank of Scotland and its subsidiary NatWest Bank, out of 9 million contactless cards that have been released since 2013, about 1,200 individuals have requested non-contactless card. Although this a small number, if this trend were to continue or occur in only 0.1 percent of cases, it could affect millions of consumers worldwide.
Those who reject the new contactless cards site security concerns. A PYMNTS report in July showed how a simple scanner extracted personal information from debit cards, including the credit card number and expiration date. 6 different types of contactless cards were tested. Peter Eisenegger of the National Consumers Federation noted that some cards could be read from up to 8 inches away. With approximately 58 million of these in circulation, a significant amount of consumers in the U.K. could be at risk.
Despite this test, the U.K. Cards Association doesn’t believe contactless cards will spark a rash of imminent fraud threats. The association states that instances of fraud with contactless cards are extremely rare. Losses of less than a penny for every £100 spent have been reported, which is far less than traditional credit cards.
If you are a merchant in the high risk market, make sure that your POS systems can process contactless credit cards. If your company experiences a security breach, not being able to process contactless cards will make your company liable. Protect your livelihood with the assistance of a professional service that deals with high risk merchant accounts. EMB gives all types of merchants the opportunity to accept contactless cards.
