Contactless credit cards (approvals without PIN)

dpandey

Adept
Seriously WTF. At first I thought it was a system malfunction, so I called up the service center. They told me that they have sent me a high-tech card that doesn't need PINs at POS. She even lied that the contactless payments is limited to Rs2000 per day (which I would have been ok with, but it is Rs2000 per transaction).

When I asked her about protection against theft, I got scripted answers like "Sir, you can block the card if you lose it." and "Sir, you can report to the police".

As someone who writes software for a living, I understand "features" and "convenience". But I find this plain retarded. How is it different from carrying a wad of notes around.
 
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True. I had same exp in kirana store, used card for 476/-, he did not swipe it. Just gave him the card and it got debited without pin .
 
Axis bank provides option for disabling NFC TXNs through the app.
HDFC, IndusInd, ICICI, SBI don't have such option.

I don't know about others.
 
They told me that they have sent me a high-tech card that doesn't need PINs at POS. She even lied that the contactless payments is limited to Rs2000 per day (which I would have been ok with, but it is Rs2000 per transaction).
.

This NFC Txn is around for at least 2+ year and I have been using it for that time and in my case it work only for Txn below 2000...
 
more details on the card, bank ... interesting

ICICI bank. Platinum. Look for the symbol in the photo below. I just realized both my ICICI credit cards have this feature (I use only one of them. The other one is for emergency).

Google tells me all banks are now issuing such cards.

contactless_card_symbol.jpg

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This is being pushed by VISA


How am I protected if my card with contactless Visa card or my Visa Micro Tag is lost or stolen?

With Visa’s Zero Liability policy, you will not be held responsible for fraudulent charges or unauthorised purchases made with your contactless Visa card. This means you can use your card to shop with total confidence, as you will always be protected against unauthorised use.


Not sure what this means.
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This has created another problem for me. Apparently, Bangalore metro pass also uses the same technology. When I tried to tap my wallet on the gate's sensor, it said something like "only one pass at a time" :) I had to take the pass out and use it.
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This NFC Txn is around for at least 2+ year and I have been using it for that time and in my case it work only for Txn below 2000...

Is there a limit on the number of such transactions per day? The PIN gave one level of protection. Now anyone can steal a card and start using it.
 
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Well, I like this feature. When I go for fuel, I prefer to get fuel of Rs.2000 and use contact less card to avoid possible card cloning. PIN can be captured and seen by employees on their multiple CCTV cameras if use traditional method.
 
My SCB card had this wifi like logo from past 2 years. I thought it was common by now.
Edit: Its a MasterCard card. So both Visa and MasterCard have this. Probably Maestro and other cards have it too.
 
Well, I like this feature. When I go for fuel, I prefer to get fuel of Rs.2000 and use contact less card to avoid possible card cloning. PIN can be captured and seen by employees on their multiple CCTV cameras if use traditional method.

But a lot of people who dont know about this feature ( me included till now ), the other party can always ask you to input a pin to see what you input.
So this is for within 2000 transactions which is good.
Ive experienced this online where some merchants didnt need OTP and transactions went through. And the amounts were less than 2K.
 
Do you get a notification SMS whenever a contactless transaction is done?
Yes.
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So this is for within 2000 transactions which is good.

How many Rs2000 transaction in a day will trigger the bank's fraud detection algorithms? A limit of 2000 doesn't mean much if someone can do 10 back-to-back transactions.

Also, not sure if the bank will take responsibility for the transactions that have succeeded.
 
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ICICI bank have started giving their debit cards as well with contactless feature . I did raised concerned but no go at the moment. Still, the upper limit for such transactions is 2000 re per day irrespective of number of swipes. this have been in use for quite some time. i am surprised this got picked up recently. atleast my year old SC card have this feature and i use it many time in US ..
 
I just discovered that I can set per day spending limits for citibank credit cards. In fact there are separate limits for cash, POS and online.

The icici card is going back to into the cupboard.
 
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