Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 09-08-2018

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre has assured customers that contactless or ‘tap-and-go’ bank cards are as secure as traditional bank cards.

This comes after a video being circulated on social media, showing how easy it is to steal information when using contactless bank cards or “tap-and-go” cards.

SABRIC, has dispelled the video saying it may have created the incorrect perception that contactless cards are easy to exploit by criminals.

SABRIC’s Head of Relationship Management Susan Potgieter says banks have taken the necessary precautions to ensure tap-and-go cards are a safe and secure method of payment.

“Banks have upfront implemented mitigation measures. So you cannot tap you card the whole day, its limited to a couple of transactions per day. It has a cap on it with regards to monetary value of the transaction.”

However Potgieter says customers must ensure that their cards are safe.

“It’s very important to always handle your card yourself. Look after your card as if its cash, so make sure you always know where it is, so when you transact, you tap the card, you don’t give it to somebody else to tap. In that manner you stay in control of the transaction.”

Tap-and-go cards have technology that enables banking transactions by merely tapping your card on a point of sale device that has the same technology to connect with the card.