We’ve been designing some new NFC tags to be used on top of pre-printed materials to enable mobile transactions. Physical theft of the card, as well as credit card number theft through card reader strips in terminals, are no longer a possibility. In addition, newest NFC technology prevents merchants from storing credit card numbers, as each transaction generates a unique number for each payment. NFC opens up a completely new world of possibilities, especially when it comes to enabling contactless payments that are to replace the old-fashioned swipe-and-sign system.
“With banks routinely issuing contactless payment card to customers, there is a need to raise awareness of the potential security threats,” Eleanor Gendle, managing editor of The Journal of Engineering, suggests. Even if proximity mobile payment is easy and convenient and brings a unique customer experience, implementation has some concerned about the security of each transaction. Many question if every transaction is truly swift, smooth and secure as sensitive payment data are transmitted forward for processing. Time will tell, but for now, many people remain wary of the new payment technologies and have yet to adopt the new approach.
In order to become a mainstream payment method, contactless payments through NFC need to ensure maximum possible peace of mind to patrons with data well secured. In addition, new users of near field communication ought to also be diligent about keeping tight security on their phones in order to prevent breaches from occurring. Versatility creates many different ways for NFC to be used within one business.
Therefore, the need for the new generation of NFC tag chips to feature a range of built-in security features that can validate the card’s integrity and the cardholder’s verification with a unique identifier (UID) can help secure transactions from any attempts of capturing payments data by malicious hackers. Furthermore, the secure element connected to the NFC chip for secure data exchange must also protect personal data that reside in memory, enabling a card emulation application to store sensitive data in a trusted environment. NFC is simply another type of contactless payment.
Unless precautions are taken, an unauthorized person can gain access to stored credit card information even before being sent to a merchant’s card reader. Therefore, the number of shoppers planning to use contactless payment more in the future is uncertain. If an individual’s credit card is stolen, it is easy to use that card to make fraudulent purchases.
