PNC Bank’s treasury management unit is trialling technology that guards against card-not-present fraud by automatically changing the three digit CVV code on the back of credit cards.

The US National ATM Council is warning cash machine operators of an emerging scam in which criminals re-programme the terminal to dispense notes even when a transaction is denied.

The scam, which has hit ATMs in California, is accomplished by criminals’ opening the upper ATM housing and installing a “rigged” device that alters the transaction response message coming back from the card issuer to the terminal. This effectively turns a “denial” into an “approval” message – thereby tricking the terminal into dispensing the cash. 

“This scam appears to be taking advantage of an unencrypted communications link vulnerability somewhere between the wireless modem and the ATM terminal,” says NAC. “To protect against this scam, sources are advising operators to program their ATMs to implement SSL encryption whether the terminal is using a hard-wired or wireless data connection as its communications modality.”

Operators are also advised to check their upper housings for signs of tampering and to make sure they are not using standard default lock and key settings.

States the NAC: “Although this scam has been reported thus far as only occurring in California, we know how trends such as this can and do spread across the nation…and so, vigilance is in order.”

– Finextra –

Biometric cards’ ability to enable frictionless customer authentication for higher value contactless transactions will lead to the technology gaining widespread adoption by 2023, Goode Intelligence predicts, with a total of almost 579m biometric payment cards in use around the world in five years’ time.

“After a year of pilots for biometric payment cards in 2018 we will see additional pilots in 2019 with even a small number of commercial deployments,” CEO Alan Goode explained to NFC World.

“2020 will be the year that we shall see an acceleration of biometric payment card shipments for customers around the world.

“As enrolment models are refined and card prices reduce, the benefits to consumers of security and convenience with the ability to use these cards for higher value payments in physical locations including retail stores will further accelerate adoption of biometric payment cards.”

Overall, Goode Intelligence predicts that more than 2.6 billion people will be using biometrics to secure payments by 2023, driven by a number of factors including consumer desire for frictionless authentication while paying, the need to reduce payment fraud, industry and state regulation and technology standardisation.

– nfcworld.com –

More than half of UK consumers (54%) would use a biometric payment card if their bank made one available today, a new survey has found, and 82% say it would become their preferred payment card.

Eight out of 10 consumers believe that a biometric payment card, with a built-in fingerprint sensor, will offer increased convenience and security, the survey conducted by GfK for Gemalto found.

86% perceive the technology to be more secure and 82% believe it will provide greater convenience.

Advantages cited include no need to remember different PINs, a more secure experience (“no more risk of someone stealing my PIN code when I pay”) and more opportunities to make contactless payments thanks to the higher spending limits that biometric cards are expected to provide.

Consumers who expressed concerns about using biometric technology cited feeling afraid that their fingerprint won’t work all the time (41%) and concerns about the biometric security being compromised (37%).

“These concerns should be alleviated as consumers learn more about the technology,” Gemalto says. “For example, patek phillipe replica biometric cards will be able to fall back to a PIN code authorisation if for any reason the fingerprint reader malfunctions. The fingerprint data is also securely stored in the card’s chip. It never leaves the card. It’s not kept on the bank’s servers nor sent to a personalization bureau.”

More than 579m biometric cards will be in use around the world by 2023, analysts Goode Intelligence predict. Demand is expected to be driven by the technology’s ability to enable higher value contactless transactions at the point-of-sale.

– nfcworld.com –

Societe Generale is trialling a payments card with a built in fingerprint reader that enables users to make contactless payments of any amount.

The biometric element eliminates the need for shoppers to enter a PIN, letting them tap and pay for any amount.

When a customer receives the card, they record their fingerprint themselves. Because the data is verified directly on the card, no element of it is transmitted to either the bank or merchant.

The card also functions normally for all contact-type payments in-store, on the internet and ATM withdrawals.

– Finextra –