While it may seem distant, a future where identity thieves can’t steal your credit or debit card numbers may be closer than you think. Mastercard recently announced plans to eliminate these card numbers by 2030. This raises some questions: what does this shift mean, and what will our credit cards look like in the near future? Instead of relying on a crystal ball (admittedly more stylish than practical), I consulted experts to explore some possibilities.
Will we have numberless credit cards someday?
They may not all exactly be numberless, but our credit card numbers – in the not far-off future – won’t resemble the numbers we have today.
“The industry is heading in this direction,” says Stephen Herwig, assistant professor of computer science at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. “Credit card fraud remains a widespread issue, and financial institutions must comply with strict regulations to protect consumers.”
Herwig adds that biometric authentication and account number tokenization seem to be where the future of credit cards are headed.
You’re likely familiar with biometric authentication, which uses unique biological traits like fingerprints or facial recognition for identification – think unlocking your phone or accessing a banking app. Now, prepare for a potentially surprising development. Herwig explains that “credit card companies are working to integrate biometric readers into the card itself. Eventually, credit cards will feature built-in fingerprint readers and will securely store fingerprint data on the card itself.”
Account number tokenization is likely less widely known. This process involves using a secure, randomly generated number, often created by an app, to replace your actual credit card or bank account number. This means that in the future, instead of a single vulnerable card number, each transaction could use a unique, temporary one.
Building on their work with biometric authentication and tokenization, Mastercard envisions a future where the traditional 16-to-19 digit card number may disappear by 2030. For some, this could mean the end of physical cards altogether, with all transactions occurring through a credit card app on their phone, each utilizing a unique, temporary number. This evolution may not feel drastic for consumers who already store their credit and debit cards digitally on their phones.
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Why are numberless credit cards a good idea?
Herwig explains that removing permanent numbers from credit cards offers two primary advantages. The most straightforward is the elimination of physical card theft. However, the potential end of large-scale data breaches involving credit card numbers – the kind we often hear about affecting retailers and insurance firms – is perhaps an even greater benefit for consumers. Without a single, identifiable credit card number, the information simply isn’t there for thieves to steal during a data breach.
It isn’t just the 16-to-19-digit numbers that disappear and reduce fraud. Weiqing Sun, director of undergraduate and graduate programs in cybersecurity at The University of Toledo in Ohio says that numberless credit cards also won’t have an expiration date or security code, “hence the likelihood of this set of critical financial information getting stolen will be significantly decreased.”
When will we have numberless credit cards?
While Mastercard has said they’ll get rid of credit and debit card numbers by 2030, not all credit card issuers have announced plans, and whatever happens over the next several years, “there will likely be some accessibility gaps,” says Robert Siciliano, a security analyst and author of “Identity Theft Privacy: Security Protection and Fraud Prevention.”
“Customers without smartphones or what you would consider digital illiterate could face payment barriers,” he says.
He uses himself and his family as an example of how numberless credit cards wouldn’t necessarily be a seamless transition if it happened tomorrow:
“I’m 56 and still using hard credit cards because my digital wallet – Apple Pay – doesn’t always work like it should because not all points of sales accept it. It is not a ubiquitous technology.
“My 76 year old father uses a mobile phone, but not Apple Pay. My 94-year-old mother-in-law doesn’t have a mobile phone.”
So, this is going to be a gradual process, not an overnight one. No bank or fintech company is going to want to abandon a slew of customers who have money but not the tools to use numberless credit cards.
But it isn’t as if this isn’t happening already. Numberless credit cards have been rolled out in other parts of the world like Australia and Europe, Sun says, “and received generally positive feedback.”
Bottom line on numberless cards
It can sound sort of unsettling, the idea that one day we won’t have to remember our credit card’s security code, and that we won’t have numbers tied to our cards, but ultimately, Sun says, “given the long-standing credit card fraud issue, it is necessary and important to improve the security design of credit cards. I think numberless credit cards are an important step in this direction.”
But, if you’re unsettled and want to resist the numberless trend, you’ve got time.
“I think there will be physical cards available for the next 15 to 20 years or maybe even more,” Siciliano says. “When you think about it, the United States is one of the last nations to adopt the chip card.”
In other words, Americans are not always great about sudden change. But that’s the thing, there won’t be a lot of sudden changes. Herwig says that even with credit cards that carry your fingerprint information, however this all works, “the changes during checkout should be minimal.” The credit card industry is working hard precisely to make sure the changes ahead aren’t hard.
