Some Consumers Disabling RFID Contactless Chips In Cards
Susan Warren reports for the Wall St. Journal on actions being taken by some concerned consumers to disable the RFID chips contained in new contactless payment cards because of concerns about potential abuses of the new technology.
MasterCard International says multiple layers of security are available to prevent MasterCard data from being stolen by electronic eavesdropping. It is up to the companies that issue the card to decide which security measures to adopt, says Art Kranzley, MasterCard's executive vice president in charge of new payment technologies. Customers who don't want RFID in their PayPass payment cards can ask to be issued an old-fashioned chipless card, says Mr. Kranzley.
"MasterCard International says multiple layers of security are available to prevent MasterCard data from being stolen by electronic eavesdropping." This is true - but only between the reader and the bank; not the card to reader.
"Customers who don't want RFID in their PayPass payment cards can ask to be issued an old-fashioned chipless card"
False. MasterCard has no plans to issue non chipped cards. My bank and MasterCard have said that it is there to stay.
Posted by: John | May 22, 2011 at 07:41 AM