When I was a cashier, there was definitely a subset of people - usually the same people wearing maga hats - who did refuse to use the tap. They believed it was insecure. I looked it up, it’s slightly more secure than the chip (if only because contactless systems are not yet susceptible to counterfeit card reader attachments).
It was pretty annoying too, because I was frequently stationed at a register that had a broken chip reader. Some people would get frustrated very quickly and, like, start rage-jamming the card into the machine repeatedly. It’s kind of scary how many people go from 0-60 unhinged at checkout.
After learning about the security aspect, and because of that broken reader, I made it a point to educate everyone I could about the tap. A lot of people aren’t even aware their card can do that stuff.
I just tap it every time and half the time it doesn’t work. Well I tap with my phone, then tap with card, then insert, then it tells me to swipe so I swipe.
I’ve set up a cognitohazard in my bank account. Anyone who looks into it is disassembled into their component parts and sold off to appease my rampaging bank fees.
Yes, I work with the things. Skimmers can steal a bunch of personal info and possibly vault your card (although that would tie the charge down to a payment processor and could flag the risk mechanisms, so it’s not likely to go on for long)
But you can charge people smaller amounts and set it up to not require a pin, then it’ll return back the name on the card and a bunch of other stuff, like the last 4 digits on the card, card issuer, and expiration date
I’m sure you could walk through a busy city and get enough names to make that sellable to scammers, or leave skimmers around long term
So from what I remember, the chip and the tap use pretty much the same authentication systems under the hood. They’re pretty identical in that way. The pin number and how that’s implemented is kind of a joke, because every card reader has ways to accept a payment from a card without even needing the pin (usually). Still better to use a pin of course, and that’s something the tap supports too.
Like I said before, right now a common threat to chip cards is spoof devices that criminals try to surreptitiously install onto legitimate card readers. Like a hardware keylogger basically. So - and as far as I know, this might not even be true anymore - the one main advantage the tap has over the chip is that it is not susceptible to these spoof reader devices.
When I was a cashier, there was definitely a subset of people - usually the same people wearing maga hats - who did refuse to use the tap. They believed it was insecure. I looked it up, it’s slightly more secure than the chip (if only because contactless systems are not yet susceptible to counterfeit card reader attachments).
It was pretty annoying too, because I was frequently stationed at a register that had a broken chip reader. Some people would get frustrated very quickly and, like, start rage-jamming the card into the machine repeatedly. It’s kind of scary how many people go from 0-60 unhinged at checkout.
After learning about the security aspect, and because of that broken reader, I made it a point to educate everyone I could about the tap. A lot of people aren’t even aware their card can do that stuff.
I wonder how the chip reader got broken
Yeah if only there were part of this story which could shed light on it…
The tap on my card stopped working a few weeks after I got it, I hope nobody thinks I’m toxic because I have to swipe or insert.
I just tap it every time and half the time it doesn’t work. Well I tap with my phone, then tap with card, then insert, then it tells me to swipe so I swipe.
I exercise ultimate security by just having no money. If anybody manages to open the Pandora’s Box that is my bank account, best of luck to them.
I’ve set up a cognitohazard in my bank account. Anyone who looks into it is disassembled into their component parts and sold off to appease my rampaging bank fees.
It’s more secure to have a card that can’t do the tap
Do you have evidence for this?
Yes, I work with the things. Skimmers can steal a bunch of personal info and possibly vault your card (although that would tie the charge down to a payment processor and could flag the risk mechanisms, so it’s not likely to go on for long)
But you can charge people smaller amounts and set it up to not require a pin, then it’ll return back the name on the card and a bunch of other stuff, like the last 4 digits on the card, card issuer, and expiration date
I’m sure you could walk through a busy city and get enough names to make that sellable to scammers, or leave skimmers around long term
How is it more secure? Surely needing the card + pin is more secure than just carrying the card its self.
So from what I remember, the chip and the tap use pretty much the same authentication systems under the hood. They’re pretty identical in that way. The pin number and how that’s implemented is kind of a joke, because every card reader has ways to accept a payment from a card without even needing the pin (usually). Still better to use a pin of course, and that’s something the tap supports too.
Like I said before, right now a common threat to chip cards is spoof devices that criminals try to surreptitiously install onto legitimate card readers. Like a hardware keylogger basically. So - and as far as I know, this might not even be true anymore - the one main advantage the tap has over the chip is that it is not susceptible to these spoof reader devices.