"Don’t wave goodbye to your pay with pay wave…" Article by Steve Marsten

As we head down the slippery slope to a cashless society, I had the privilege of speaking to a retailer who told me of a recent sale of coffee where a lady told the cash attendant that she would wave her card (on the Paywave monitor). However she placed her bag down next to the monitor and while she looked inside her bag for her credit card, the attendant said “that’s Ok madam the card has registered!” and the transaction was complete. She looked up in horror and asked “How did that happen?” A fair question I thought.

So apparently numbers were crossed check and it was all good. However there are a few things we should be conscious of:

1.       The chip feature in these Wave Card offerings come switched on, and can't be switched off. The consumer has no choice - the card simply comes with the functionality. The companies deem the consumer to have consented. They achieved this simply by changing the Terms that are imposed on cardholders.

2.        The chip performs transactions up to $100.

3.       No authentication is performed of the authority of the person to use the card (i.e. no signature, no PIN). This is the case whether you're borrowing money in a credit-card transaction, or taking the money directly out of your bank account in a debit-card transaction.

4.       A receipt may be offered, or it may have to be requested.

5.       Importantly, the vast majority of people will never discover when rogue transactions have occurred until its too late. When a consumer discovers a suspect transaction, they have to go through a process to try to get the money credited back, but have very little information available to them, and of course no evidence.

6.       And as was discovered recently, Banks actively try to discourage applicants, e.g. by saying it will take 60 days to investigate, and by requiring a signed document by fax or post. Though I have noticed banks are trying hard to rectify this issue.

At Sothertons we continue to keep our clients aware of the pros and cons of new technologies. Contact us on 4972 1300 for ways to protect your credit cards.