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Comment by quesera

3 months ago

Tap (NFC, radio), dip (EMV, chip), or swipe (magnetic stripe).

The fake terminal concern that vlovich mentions above is real. Look up "credit card skimmers" (the same threat applies to debit cards and ATMs -- anything with a magstripe and keypad).

This is a big deal. It's happened to me three times in the last few years, twice within a week of each other (and likely from the same location).

There are some EMV skimmers in the wild too. They're called "shimmers" because the mechanism is very thin and inserted into the EMV dip slot. These need a separate mechanism to capture PIN input via keypad, so they remain a better choice (but keep reading).

NFC is the safest, and fastest. The cryptography between the card and reader is intact and not replayable etc. Apple Pay is equally good from a safety perspective, and better from many others. I don't know about Google Pay.

Other problems with using your debit card: credit card contracts offer better protections against fraud; and of course there is no immediate debit to your account, so you are never stuck fighting to recover already-stolen funds.

The entire point of EMV and NFC is increased card security. It's nice that they're also quicker, but that's quite secondary.

So, do as thou wilt, obviously. But your mudstickery may be putting you at additional risk. I don't estimate the time difference as meaningful for you or other customers.

> NFC is the safest, and fastest.

You have still not explained why. You have only expanded the claim. What is different about how "the cryptography" etc. is implemented? Why would other physical interactions between the card and the reader not enable the same security? If it's possible, why doesn't it happen?

  • NFC can't be skimmed.

    EMV can and sometimes is, and magstripe skimming happens all day every day.

    • You have still not explained anything useful.

      What is it physically about NFC that prevents it from being skimmed in the same way as the others?