Contactless payment systems include credit and debit cards, key fobs, and other mobile devices such as smartphones that allow you to make secure payments simply by holding the card or other device over the reader. While there are some similarities between contactless payments and mobile payments, which can also be made on your smartphone, the main difference between the two is that mobile payments generally use a larger cellular or Wi-Fi network, while contactless payments use physical proximity requires.

Contactless payment cards are regular chip-and-pin cards with an additional antenna that enables secure contactless communication between your card and the reader. Typically, contactless credit and debit cards have a maximum range of about two inches, which means they have to be held fairly close to the reader to pick up its radio frequency. As soon as the signal is received by the card's antenna, the payment is made. Proximity bid also helps to avoid accidental and erroneous payments. Speaking of failed payments, let's discuss the top pros and cons of contactless cards.

Advantages and disadvantages of contactless payments
Certain bank customers are worried about the security of contactless cards. The main security issues relate to the question of what happens if you lose your card or it gets stolen. The answer is that you will very likely end up losing a small amount of money, unless you manage to block your card before someone tries to use it. The good news is that banks have thought of several security tricks to minimise the potential for losing money in the event of theft. All contactless cards set reasonably low limits on the amount you can spend without entering your PIN. These limits vary from country to country, ranging from 10 EUR in the Baltic states to 1000 CNY (~137 EUR) in China. In addition, many banks require you to enter your PIN after 3-5 consecutive contactless payments, even if the transaction does not exceed the spending limit. Finally, if your card does end up in the wrong hands and you lose money, your bank may offer to reimburse you.

Nevertheless, there is a belief that banks see contactless payment as an opportunity to make money from shopkeepers, who bear the costs of the merchant terminals that support contactless payments and of processing transactions, and that this is being done at the expense of the safety of customers' money. These costs might explain why in some countries relatively few retailers offer the option of paying by contactless card. This means that you may end up with nowhere to use the contactless payment method offered by your new card.

Contactless payments — the future of bank cards?
The main advantages of contactless payment cards are convenience and the time saved for every transaction. These are the two key reasons why bank representatives believe that contactless payments are the future, not only of credit and debit cards, but of minor payments in general. Technological advances are increasing the popularity of contactless payments among customers as well as retailers. According to MasterCard, approximately one billion contactless payments were made in Europe alone in 2015, which is a 150% increase in comparison with the previous year.

One thing to consider before declaring contactless payments to be the future of our everyday transactions is the limit on each payment. Currently, contactless payment can be used for only a small proportion of transactions due to low spending limits, which vary from country to country. Therefore, at some point banks will be faced with a serious decision — between increasing these limits, which might jeopardise the safety of their customers' money, and keeping the volume of contactless payments at a certain level.

Banks offering contactless payments
One bank that has been very keen on contactless payments is Barclays. Back in 2010, Barclays had already started switching its regular credit and debit cards for new contactless ones. Since then, it has gone much further and introduced its customers to new digital payment devices — such as wristbands, key fobs and even a sticker.

Other banks all over the world have been issuing their customers with contactless payment cards for some years now. HSBC started replacing old, expired cards with new contactless ones in mid-2014. Other banks, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, are following HSBC's example. Scandinavian banks, including Nordea and SEB, are also introducing contactless payment cards.

https://www.confiduss.com/en/info/blog/article/contactless-payment-cards/