Contactless payments have been introduced to increase the ease of transactions, especially for small-ticket transactions. Nowadays, all credit and debit cards come equipped with the facility of contactless payments.
Contactless payments can also be processed through smartphones with the help of near-field communication (NFC) technology. With NFC, one can seamlessly pay through a smartphone that contains the credit card information.
Contactless transactions are performed with a tap-and-pay action with the cardholder tapping the credit card at the merchant’s PoS system, the card reader attached to the machine immediately sends a debit message.
The biggest concern with contactless payment-enabled credit cards is the the contactless facility itself. In case the credit card is lost or stolen, anyone can use it without getting detected as no signature or PIN is mandated to process the contactless transactions.
Most banks have capped the daily limit for contactless at Rs 50,000, purposely to avoid extreme misusage in the event of a loss.
In case one possesses multiple credit cards, then one should switch off the contactless payment option for cards that are used infrequently.
As all credit and debit cards come ready with the contactless payment facility, one should carry them in a wallet or purse that can block RFID instructions. This helps in avoiding unwarranted and unauthorized transactions.
One should check the statements to spot any fraudulent activity as there is a likelihood of misusage if the credit card is being used heavily.
Compiled by Syed Muskan
