RFID Lowdown: Gray areas in RFID credit cards

July 03, 2006

Gray areas in RFID credit cards

MasterCard had in the recent past introduced the RFID PayPass credit cards in collaboration with Australian Banks. Through selected outlets, this system now supports in excess of over 35,000 Commonwealth bank customers. While this is still at the trial stages, PayPass has been more widely accepted in the US by over 7 million customers.

However, despite winning varying levels of acceptance, the company is still fighting concerns over security of the technology. MasterCard is prompt in highlighting that the security required for the use of the card has been built into the application itself. Addressing an issue brought out by an attendee at a recently concluded conference in Sydney, where it was alleged that these cards were susceptible to digital interferences, MasterCard Consultant Robert White highlighted that these cards use anti-collision technology.

One question however… What would happen if you have multiple RFID cards in your wallet? At present while the RFID cards may not be in vogue yet the world over, and when companies like Visa and MasterCard have not yet come to any agreeable convention, you could actually be carrying different types of cards which may or may not be activated by the RFID scanner. On the same lines Skimming may also be possible. Skimming occurs when an intruder is reading the contents of your RFID tag from the vicinity.

Another peculiar problem that the card companies may have to address in the future is the possible multiple deduction of the sale amount from all the cards you carry. Even if MasterCard and Visa and the other card companies work out a convenient way of identifying the types of cards, problem will be faced if the customer carried two Master cards from different banks. At a time when banks are more than generous to give you credit cards, I wonder if the time we are trying to save with swipe credit cards will actually lead us to spend more time in clarifying at the till which card should be debited and which shouldn’t.

--
Did you enjoy this post?

July 3, 2006 | Permalink