Contactless Visa cards

anamenottaken

M0ney wrote: »

Slightly off topic but I would like to know, do you have to actively enable contactless with your cards or is it automatic?

I have chosen not to use contactless because I don't see the need for it and also I'm not convinced of how secure it is. I would like to think that contactless doesn't work on my cards, is this the case?

If the contactless symbol is on the card, it's a contactless-enabled card.

Armorica

Martyn14 wrote: »

Here's one for you, how many banks make there credit cards contactless, as well as their debit cards.

Not many I imagine, it's not much of a worry to them when your money is at a potential fraud risk by having it taken through these devices. But if it's the banks lending money that is at risk, then I don't think they would be so keen.

I don't mean to sound like a conspiracist, and I may be completely wrong, but I've never come across a contactless credit card, has anyone else?

Any logic behind that statement?


As others have noted, contactless credit cards are common. The distinction is rather between current accounts with successful credit checks and those that aren't checked/failed like basic bank accounts. Basic bank accounts wouldn't usually have a contactless card.

M0ney

anamenottaken wrote: »

If the contactless symbol is on the card, it's a contactless-enabled card.

My barclaycard and FD debit card has the symbol, what if my wallet is stolen? Can the thief simply buy what he wants as long as the cost is less than £20?

20aday

M0ney wrote: »

My barclaycard and FD debit card has the symbol, what if my wallet is stolen? Can the thief simply buy what he wants as long as the cost is less than £20?

Possibly, yes, however PIN entry is required every so often so it's probable they'd only be able to conduct a few contactless transactions before it asks for one to be completed via PIN.

However so long as you've taken reasonable steps (such as not having your PIN stored in your wallet/purse etc) then the bank would refund you.

username

M0ney wrote: »

My barclaycard and FD debit card has the symbol, what if my wallet is stolen? Can the thief simply buy what he wants as long as the cost is less than £20?

In theory, it is possible, but you'd be refunded for any fradulent usage as per normal, and also the contactless facility would stop working after x amount of times and ask for PIN re verification.

If you had a wallet stuffed with cash it would be gone with no recourse.

In all contactless threads, I've always noticed that there is always a fear of using it, it's as if people fear they will have their entire bank account drained if they use this new technology.

It certainly works very well, contactless transactions take seconds compared to 5-20 seconds with ol' school pin. The best places are bars and coffee shops where they use the separate card machines that dial up and take even longer...

M0ney

IMO chip and PIN works well, don't see the point of reinventing the wheel, I very rarely carry cash and certainly don't leave my PIN written down anywhere so I'd rather just disable contactless.

System

You cannot 'disable contactless' from a card with that function.

You would have to explicitly request a non-contactless version from your credit or debit card issuer.

M0ney wrote: »

IMO chip and PIN works well, don't see the point of reinventing the wheel, I very rarely carry cash and certainly don't leave my PIN written down anywhere so I'd rather just disable contactless.