PayPass Credit Card Review
Author: Ira
Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:18 pm
Post subject: Touchless credit cards
PayPass hopes to score with touchless credit cards
By: Dan Richman
Source: SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A few Seahawks fans, reluctant to miss precious seconds of Monday night's game while grabbing a dog and a brew, for the first time were able to pay for their snacks just by waving a newfangled credit card in front of a sensor.
If it seems like yet another newfangled way to risk high-tech theft, the experts say don't worry. Fans were taking no financial risk by beaming their account information through a few inches of air, rather
than swiping a card conventionally or handing it to a clerk.
At most, they said, thieves determined and sophisticated enough to intercept the wireless transmissions might be able to discover a cardholder's name.
Monday's preseason game against Dallas marked the Seattle debut of MasterCard International Inc.'s "PayPass"- branded contactless technology. More than 400 terminals at Qwest Field are enabled with
the new PayPass technology, at concession stands and retail sales areas.
Contactless cards, which use technology known as radio frequency identification, or RFID, currently account for less than 1 percent of the debit and credit cards in use, said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of industry group The Smart Card Alliance.
But they are expected to quickly become more widespread, he said. Plans call for PayPass terminals to be installed at some Seattle-area McDonald's restaurants, 7-Eleven stores, Regal Cinemas and Ritz Camera stores by early 2006, MasterCard said.
Rivals Visa and American Express are rolling out similar technology. Readers installed by each card issuer will be able to process the other issuers' contactless cards, said MasterCard International Vice
President William Murray.
Contactless cards can generally be used only for purchases of $25 or less, for which no signature is usually required. MasterCard says the cards take up to 18 seconds less than paying cash.
To use the new technology, holders of conventional debit or credit cards must request contactless versions from their card issuers. The special cards are usually free, and they're identical in shape and
size to conventional cards, said Vanderhoof.
Right now, contactless cards are available to Seattle-area residents only through MBNA Corp. of Wilmington, Del., and KeyCorp of Cleveland, said MasterCard's Murray.
All three major card issuers -- MasterCard, Visa and American Express -- guarantee zero liability for fraudulent use to holders of contactless cards. Stolen cards must be reported promptly to avoid
liability.
But experts said the contactless cards present no security risk to cardholders for two reasons.
One is technological. The cards transmit no signal except when stimulated by a reader, so thieves can't troll for transmissions as cardholders pass by, Vanderhoof said. When the cards do transmit, the signal travels only 4 inches.
And it contains only an encrypted variant of the cardholder's account number.
That variant, used only once, is created instantly in response to a number generated by the reader. The encryption uses a 112-bit key, which is "pretty much uncrackable," said Patrick Ennis, a board member at Seattle semiconductor-maker Impinj Inc., which makes chips used in contactless cards.
The new technology is also secure because it puts all risk of loss on the card issuers, not the consumers or merchants, said security expert Bruce Schneier.
As to the chance the new cards will reveal the holder's name to electronically savvy thieves, "consumers have to ask the issuers what they're doing to protect that information," he said.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:18 pm
Post subject: Touchless credit cards
PayPass hopes to score with touchless credit cards
By: Dan Richman
Source: SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A few Seahawks fans, reluctant to miss precious seconds of Monday night's game while grabbing a dog and a brew, for the first time were able to pay for their snacks just by waving a newfangled credit card in front of a sensor.
If it seems like yet another newfangled way to risk high-tech theft, the experts say don't worry. Fans were taking no financial risk by beaming their account information through a few inches of air, rather
than swiping a card conventionally or handing it to a clerk.
At most, they said, thieves determined and sophisticated enough to intercept the wireless transmissions might be able to discover a cardholder's name.
Monday's preseason game against Dallas marked the Seattle debut of MasterCard International Inc.'s "PayPass"- branded contactless technology. More than 400 terminals at Qwest Field are enabled with
the new PayPass technology, at concession stands and retail sales areas.
Contactless cards, which use technology known as radio frequency identification, or RFID, currently account for less than 1 percent of the debit and credit cards in use, said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of industry group The Smart Card Alliance.
But they are expected to quickly become more widespread, he said. Plans call for PayPass terminals to be installed at some Seattle-area McDonald's restaurants, 7-Eleven stores, Regal Cinemas and Ritz Camera stores by early 2006, MasterCard said.
Rivals Visa and American Express are rolling out similar technology. Readers installed by each card issuer will be able to process the other issuers' contactless cards, said MasterCard International Vice
President William Murray.
Contactless cards can generally be used only for purchases of $25 or less, for which no signature is usually required. MasterCard says the cards take up to 18 seconds less than paying cash.
To use the new technology, holders of conventional debit or credit cards must request contactless versions from their card issuers. The special cards are usually free, and they're identical in shape and
size to conventional cards, said Vanderhoof.
Right now, contactless cards are available to Seattle-area residents only through MBNA Corp. of Wilmington, Del., and KeyCorp of Cleveland, said MasterCard's Murray.
All three major card issuers -- MasterCard, Visa and American Express -- guarantee zero liability for fraudulent use to holders of contactless cards. Stolen cards must be reported promptly to avoid
liability.
But experts said the contactless cards present no security risk to cardholders for two reasons.
One is technological. The cards transmit no signal except when stimulated by a reader, so thieves can't troll for transmissions as cardholders pass by, Vanderhoof said. When the cards do transmit, the signal travels only 4 inches.
And it contains only an encrypted variant of the cardholder's account number.
That variant, used only once, is created instantly in response to a number generated by the reader. The encryption uses a 112-bit key, which is "pretty much uncrackable," said Patrick Ennis, a board member at Seattle semiconductor-maker Impinj Inc., which makes chips used in contactless cards.
The new technology is also secure because it puts all risk of loss on the card issuers, not the consumers or merchants, said security expert Bruce Schneier.
As to the chance the new cards will reveal the holder's name to electronically savvy thieves, "consumers have to ask the issuers what they're doing to protect that information," he said.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
posted by CardRatings.com at 9:44 PM
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