Contactless Card Vulnerability

I must admit to partaking in the contactless revolution. Initially I was dead-set against it. I knew of its dangers, I knew that people could walk up and "beep" your card while it was still in your pocket. When contactless payment first hit the masses a few years back, I had no cards with any contactless chips (RFID) apart from my bus pass, and I was proud of being a Luddite. There were rumours of people losing money to thieves on crowded trains. Fortunately, contactless payment is limited to £30 in the UK, which reassured me a bit. But my everyday "current" aka savings account has no contactless chip on the card, and for the moment, I'm keeping it that way.

But where was I? Oh yes. Getting onto a bus in an unfamiliar town here in the UK, I was fumbling for my mobile phone to open a bus ticket app that I hadn't used before, apologising to the driver that I didn't have any cash with me and hadn't been able to buy my ticket on the app yet, and he simply said, "You can pay by card." I opened my wallet and looked around - but there was nowhere to insert my ATM card or type in a pin. He meant contactless, of course, and my heart sank. Then I remembered that my credit card had the contactless symbol on it, although I'd never tried it. I held my breath and hoped it would work. Flash, beep, out spits the ticket and I could go and sit down. Relief washed over me. My very first contactless payment, done under duress but definitely a positive experience. Suddenly I "got" why people had become so addicted to this.

But check this out. And think about what it means for our money.

It's not yet possible to get a stranger's phone number, or set up a date. But give it time.

Yes, we knew about the risk of losing a few quid, but do we realise that full credit card numbers are exposed? Not only that, being unaware it's happened? This is a brand new era of credit card theft - your credit card has no contactless limits, only the limit of your account itself. And since you still have the physical card, you won't know it's stolen. You can be none the wiser until you glance at your statement and see thousands of dollars racked up. Plus, if you're someone who only uses a card for planned purchases, and gets no physical statement? Those charges might go unseen for months.

Sometimes convenience has a price. We need to be vigilant in looking at those statements, be a bit aware of where our cards are (not in the back pocket, and not in a handbag on the back of a chair). It reeks of blaming the victim, but what's our alternative if we are intent on the convenience?

You can buy shields for your cards (UK) (US)* or even an RFID-blocking wallet (UK) (US)*. (Actually, I just bought some shields for myself.) Yes, it'll slow me down slightly when paying for goods, but that's a compromise I consider worthwhile. I will report back on their effectiveness and convenience once they arrive in the post.

I have also decided to pay far more attention to my credit card statements. I am one of those people who only uses a card for specific buys, and then transfers the money onto it the same day. That puts me at risk, despite my decent money-management of the card. So I shall be more careful in future.

*Affiliate links, but as usual I don't blog about anything I don't believe in.