Contactless payments have become the normal way to pay for purchase, but what is it and is it safe?
What is contactless payment?
Contactless payment is a quicker method of using your credit, debit or virtual card to pay for transactions. It was initially created to be a faster payment option than chip and PIN payments or swiping and signing.
The contactless technology has become increasingly popular amongst clients in various industries like hospitality, transport facilities, retail.
In order to pay you have to touch your card or device to the payment reader, without having to enter your PIN. Your daily spending limit depends on your bank. Some banks and credit card providers set daily spending to £100, but with others there is no limit.
Contactless device include the following:
- Credit card and debit cards
- Smart phones
- Wearable devices such as watches
- Tablets
- Key fobs
- Stickers
Contactless payments with your phone
Nowadays you can have all your cards in a single digital wallet in your smartphone. This is available with:
- Apple Pay if you have an iPhone
- Google Pay if your phone uses Goovgle’s Android operating system
You need to simply register your existing debit or credit card with the app and select which one you want to pay with, you place your phone next to the reader and authorise the payment your with the fingerprints recognition features.
How safe is contactless?
One of the main concern with contactless payments is if your card is stolen it would be easier to spend with it. Another risk could be I you accidentally pay with the wrong card by holding two of them near the card reader.
In order to tackle these issues banks have enabled quick solutions on their apps that you can quickly freeze the card if stolen.
Moreover, every single contactless card comes with a great security protecting you from fraudulent transactions.
Being able to pay with watches and rings is something that we wouldn’t have imagined ever doing a decade ago, and with technology moving at such a fast pace, the next decade is likely to see some pretty exciting advancements when it comes to contactless payments.
