Contactless payments are already common in places like Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. In fact more than 40 percent of Visa in-store transactions outside the United States occur with a tap. And now they’re poised for ubiquity in the U.S., where 100 million new Visa contactless cards are expected to be issued in 2019. In addition to being a fast and easy way to pay, contactless cards and mobile devices provide strong protection against fraud without ever touching the payment terminal. Here are some contactless security facts.
Contactless cards use the same secure technology as EMV Chip
- Every contactless transaction includes a one-time use cryptographic code that prevents counterfeit fraud.
Contactless cards experience among the lowest fraud rates of any type of payment
- The global contactless fraud rate declined 33 percent between 2017 and 2018.
Fraudsters have limited options
- If fraudsters were to get close enough to read a contactless card, they would not gain access to the cardholder’s name or the 3-digit security code, helping to prevent counterfeit and e-commerce fraud.
Contactless payments are protected by the same technologies as other Visa transactions
- Every Visa payment product is protected with security at the card, terminal, and network levels. Visa cardholders benefit from multiple layers of security that work behind the scenes with every transaction to prevent payment fraud even before it can happen.
- Secure protocols, artificial intelligence, real time analytics, cryptographic algorithms and many more layers work together to prevent fraud.
- The combination of embedded security in our payment products and multi-layered security behind every transaction is why Visa has been able to keep global fraud rates stable and near historic lows of less than one-tenth of one percent.
- In rare instances of fraud, Visa cardholders are protected with Zero Liability.
Visa payment solutions evolve
- In partnership with the wider industry, including financial institutions, technologists, academics, and others, Visa constantly adapts, enhances, and evolves its payment solutions to identify and address new risks. When appropriate, we make changes in technology and infrastructure to mitigate risks.
- As a result of this industry collaboration, contactless cards are a secure way to pay, and consumers can use them with confidence.
As adoption of contactless payments by consumers continues to grow around the world, Visa is committed to delivering the best possible customer experiences with enhanced security.