Is It Safe to Use Your Smartphone or Another Device to Make Safe Payments

As a matter of fact, payments, where smartphones or other devices are used, are among the safest payment methods. That being said, you can still come across many confusing myths online.

Below are the four most common myths. Let’s tackle them one by one together:

Myth 1. The scammers can steal your money by discreetly bringing the terminal closer to a device that supports contactless payments

This is not true. For the contactless payment to work, you need to have perfect conditions for it. The distance between the terminal and the device cannot be more than 4 centimeters. In other words, that person would need to be right next to you, know where you keep your device, and also make sure that other devices do not interfere.

Myth 2. If somebody steals your NFC-enabled smartphone, they will be able to make any purchases, no sweat

This is not true. Today’s smartphones have more than just password codes. There are also fingerprints and Face IDs. Even if the scammer manages to steal your phone, they won’t be able to pay for anything because they would still need to confirm the payment using either a Face ID or a password. To keep your money safe, make sure to always use passwords on your devices.

Myth 3. If you tap your device against the terminal twice, the money will also be withdrawn twice

This is not true. The terminal gets disabled after the first payment is made. To make another transaction, the cashier has to initiate a new payment. So, there is virtually no way you can make several payments at a store by mistake.

Myth 4. The scammer can steal your card details during contactless payments

This is not true. No card information is transferred during contactless transactions. All data is encrypted. A special one-time code (token) is created for each transaction which is then transferred between the card and terminal. This code doesn’t contain your account and card numbers, PIN codes, or other information. You control the entire process yourself and do not give your device to anybody else.

If you want to pay contactless with a SharPay card, choose “SharPay Card”. When paying, you will need to tell the cashier that you want to pay for the product contactlessly and bring the gadget to the terminal. A sound signal will inform about the successful result of the operation.