Tap… and go!  

The ability to tap-to-pay has been around since 1995, where it was first introduced as a way to pay for public transportation. Over the years, many other adaptations have been born and in recent years, consumers have had the ability to keep their bank cards right at their fingertips. Contactless payment has become the most prevalent method across all consumer industries in recent years- largely due to its convenience factor. Whether it be on our smartphones or smart watches, consumers no longer even have to go into their wallets to make their purchases. But what does that mean for the security of our sensitive information? In this article, we take a look at what measures are in place to protect your personal data and what you can be doing to help yourself.  

Who oversees the protection of my mobile payment data?  

The PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council) is the governing body over which standards in payment account data security are continuously created, implemented, monitored, and adjusted in an effort to protect consumers who use bank cards. Any type of business that handles payment card data needs to be PCI compliant.  

The four main ways that the PCI SSC help to keep your payments secure are by: 

• Managing global payment security standards 
• Validating and listing products and solutions that meet PCI SSC standards and program requirements 
• Training, testing and qualifying security professionals and organizations 
• Providing free best-practices and payment security resources 

Over time, the PCI SSC has deployed many different standards in keeping with the ever-changing technological landscape. One of their most recent standards deals with mobile payments specifically. With the introduction of the ability to use our phones and watches to make contactless payments, there was a need to adjust the standard. This new standard ensures that merchants who accept cardholder PINs or contactless payments using a smartphone, or other commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices, are maintaining compliancy requirements. 

Ok it’s technologically secure, but can theft still occur? 

Not only is it comforting to know that there is a governing body enforcing compliance when it comes to our financial privacy, but you may be surprised to know that experts have said that using ‘tap’ is physically the safest payment method currently available to us, as well. This goes for ‘tap’ using a credit or debit card and right from your smart device. 

Card theft and fraud in the past has typically happened physically, wherein, a card would be stolen and then used for fraud, card cloning, or other counterfeit tampering methods. Now, with the innovation of tap-to-pay, you can feel safer. Each time you make a purchase using ‘tap’, Near Field Communication (NFC) creates a unique, one-time code in order to transmit the customer’s account data to the merchant’s terminal, safely. That code ensures a secure communication between the two parties which significantly reduces the amount of risk you assume when making purchases this way. These same parameters go for tap-to-pay on your smart devices, but the level of security is even greater. 

Let’s talk about why. 

• You no longer have a physical card to pull out of your wallet, eliminating the risk of dropping or losing your card and therefore disallowing the opportunity for theft or card-skimming to occur.  
• Smart devices require either two-factor authentication, facial recognition or fingerprint recognition to access your payment cards. There is very little opportunity for theft or deception to occur with these restrictions in place.  
• The only information being transmitted between the two devices is the unique one-time code. Your address, account numbers, name, etc. are not being shared. 

Do your part, too. 

Of course, there is always an exception to every rule, so it is important to do your part in protecting your information.  

• Keep your devices up to date. New security measures are always being added to the new operating systems updates. By having the latest updates installed, you can feel comfortable knowing any bugs or dysfunctions have been improved upon or fixed.  
• Be careful connecting to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth is a technology that allows your devices to link to other Bluetooth-compatible devices. Wi-Fi networks that are public or unprotected can be risky to utilize as anyone can join them. These wireless connections leave room for hackers to gain access to your devices. Only join Wi-Fi networks and pair with Bluetooth devices that you trust.  
• Keep your information to yourself. Never share payment details like credit card numbers, passwords, etc., via text message or email. Doing so will leave you vulnerable to all kinds of dangerous and malicious activity. 

In conclusion… 

While there are some dangers associated with using contactless payment methods, the overall consensus is that they are here to stay. Consumers enjoy the ease, convenience, and safety of tap-to-pay and even more so of mobile tap-to-pay. In the fast-moving pace of the world today, convenience is highly sought-after and using ‘tap’ is just one of the modern day conveniences we all enjoy.