Quote:
Originally Posted by Xanthe
Oh, that kind of thing (RFID/NFC) has gotten a lot of press in the security forums. Most of those folks send their cards back requesting one without an embedded chip, or else whack the chip location with a hammer, not to mention popping a passport into the microwave.  |
Item 1: RFID and NFC are not the same thing, though people will believe they are for a while, nor are they intended to do the same things. RFID has a range of several feet, and are far more useful for inventory management - tracking where stuff is in a warehouse, inventory levels, etc. NFC as a range of, basically, touch. An RFID card can, and has been, read while it's in your pocket with a backpack sized device costing at most a couple hundred bucks, and does have some serious security implications. None of which apply to NFC. If someone bumps against you wil you're walking down the street, they're more likely to be picking your pocket than trying to read your NFC credit card. Plus, in most cases so far, the NFC device only works when it's been manually turned on (cell phones have an app, for instance, that you have to turn on and log in to).
Item 2: Within five years, if you damage the chip on your credit card, you will not longer be able to use that card
at all. And your bank really won't care if you like it or not. Merchants that do not convert to the new EMV system (which NFC is part of) will be 100% laible for all fraudulent transactions, unlike the current situation where they're not if they follow certain simple rules (mostly to prove they had a physical card in their store at the time). Any retailer who accepts that risk isn't long for this world. But chip & pin or chip & signature cards are different in that the card has a computer chip in it that is part of the system. The merchant
can't proces the transation without it. Don't like chip cards? Take cash. It's your only other choice.
Item 3: The EMV systems are significantly more secure for you, the consumer, than the old magnetic strip system. The eliminate the merchant - the retail store -as a point where your card information can be stolen. Which is, BTW, still the most common place for credit card fraud to occur, by far. An underpaid, overworkd, sullen employee who copies down some card info when you're not looking. Well, guess what: with a chip card, they
can't get all the information needed to rip you off. It is impossible. Millions of opportunities to steal eliminated.
Yeah, some people will resist, and some education of the public is needed, but it's going to happen and people will accept it because a) the only other choice is to pay cash for everything, and b) eventually, the card holder will also lose some legal protections for using the old magntic strip system. Right now, you are limited to $50 liability if someone steals your card, no matter who much they steal. That will, eventually, not be the case unless your card is a chip card.