EMV Chip RFID Blocking Credit Card Security and Why it Matters to You!
Posted by Adapt 2 Go LLC on 2nd Dec 2019
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Most people today have done away with carrying cash as a means to transact for what they need and want and have made the shift to carry credit cards and bank cards. It allows the freedom to access much greater funds at a moments notice without having to prepare for that large purchase by acquiring the cash necessary on hand to complete the transaction. Money can be exchanged at a moments notice to whatever the tune is of your available funds to acquire your desires.
EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) chip cards bring forth a lot of security and peace of mind due to its enhanced security abilities over a standard magnetic stripe card that help to prevent it from being cloned as easily by fraudulent individuals. EMV is a global standard for cards equipped with computer chips and the technology used to authenticate the card transactions.
EMV was brought about due to the occurrence of large-scale data breaches and the rapid rise of counterfeit credit card fraud. These cards are supposed to be able to be utilized without coming into contact with the card reader, as well as by inserting the chip into the card reader. The technology is supposed to utilize tokenization to replace the actual card number with a unique set for each transaction so that it can't be used again if that data was intercepted.
Along with the advent of EMV chip cards though came a new security threat presented by the radio-frequency identification (RFID) used for transmission data. EMV chip cards specifically utilize near-field communication (NFC) capabilities. For those with the technological means. Instead of having to physically steal your wallet to access your credit card. It has now become possible to simply copy the information present on the EMV chip by being close enough in proximity to the chip. Allowing for sophisticated thieves to take the most valuable resource you carry on a daily basis, access to your funds, from you without you ever having any visual or physical clues that you were being stolen from.
While it is true that banks and credit card issuing companies offer protection for funds taken as long as notice is given within a certain time frame, the issue still remains that access to the funds you had available for whatever transaction you were going to make could take days or even a week or more to be replaced.
In addition, another issue is the hassle of communicating with financial services about the transactions and waiting for their decision. For instance, it is the beginning of a new month and your rent or mortgage is due. You go to make the payment and find that the funds are missing from your account. You currently don't have enough money left in you account to go grocery shopping for the week, let alone cover the housing payment due. Not only will you have to go through the headache of dealing with the financial institution and waiting for your funds to be released, but then if you miss your payment date, you could be hit with a late charge.
A clever thief wouldn't necessarily make big transactions but smaller ones under a hundred dollars. For those who have a lot of transactions that they make in a month. How often do you actually go through and look at every purchase that was made? It may be sometime before you ever even realize that there were unauthorized transactions that occurred, which then leads to you not being able to recover those funds. Another issue that comes up is in the case of having a credit card become compromised. The issuing creditor will upon notification, close you credit card account and open another for you. While you still have the same limits and really its the same account which was never closed, according to your credit report, it will show this event as a negative on your credit card history because it will be lowering the average age of your credit history.
This new era of the ability to be targeted for theft by requires a new kind of wallet to combat the issues the new technology represents. Enter, RFID Blocking wallets. RFID blocking wallets are made out of materials that can block the RFID signal produces by an EMV chip, such as aluminum and carbon fiber. Blocking the near field communications from occurring until you decide to remove such a card from your wallet. Resetting control once more, mostly in your hands as to whether someone can readily access your most essential and valuable assets.
Coinciding with the creation of RFID blocking wallets is the Minimalist wallet or Every Day Carry (EDC) wallet. The minimalist wallet is designed for those who have no desire for the bulky nonsense of past wallet designs that are uncomfortable to wear and hard to find a place to fit, as well as single you out as a good target to steal from. Who wants a bulky wallet ruining their fitted clothing, especially when it comes to special events such as weddings, or just keeping up that professional business image.
These new minimalist wallets typically carry 4 to 12 credit cards, most don't carry cash, but there are exceptions to the rule. The belief is in carrying only the essentials necessary, such as a drivers licence, a couple of credit cards, and a debit card. If cash is desired to be carried then it is typically carried separately with a money clip. Most of the bulk that comes from the old style of wallets is due to the bills stacking up, by eliminating that issue it becomes much easier to have a non intrusive wallet that doesn't destroy your image or make you a target.
The emergent technology that will advance the cause and heed the call for thinner wallets is the soon to be released EMV Chip based multi-cards that will truly make overstuffed wallets a thing of the past. These cards are digital cards that store your information from various other financial institution cards that you have. Allowing you to select which specific card you would like to use for a transaction with a push of a button. This new technology will allow for carrying all of your different cards without having to worry when out and about that you have the one that you need. These cards are as slim as a regular credit card and have a minimum battery life of 15 days on a charge. A few key companies to keep an eye out for currently are, FUZE Card, Curve, and Edge Card.