Disabling tap-to-pay on bank cards - why FNB doesn't let you

[OhYeah84]

You do realise it's not you that carries the money risk, it's the merchant or bank? You'll just have to report card stolen, log log a dispute and you get your money back

You do realise that there will be some form of anxiety on your personal behalf involved, as well as simply not getting that money back immediately while the bank investigates? If all your cash is in that card, well then times might be a bit tight until such time as the bank reverses the cash.

Not everything happens immediately. There will be a delay.

 

[konfab]

The fears against tap and go are baseless IMO.
Why is someone worried about a criminal going though the effort of having a tap and go card machine that will go into a traceable bank account, that they will need to follow someone around for to know where their wallet is, when they can get a R30 knife from pick and pay and tell you to walk to an ATM to withdraw cash elsewise they will stab you.

 

[bwana]

In 2019, it was all the rage to disable tap-to-pay because of some Aussie video showing how easy it is "steal" people's money using a PED & the tap-to-pay capability.

Don't tell me you forgot?

No, I just don't care.

 

[Pak Fa Fui]

Way to disable the tap to pay? Works for every bank card:
Make a cut on the bottom of the card, 3cm incision, so that you cut the wireless coil going around the card. Tap to pay disabled...

Do not try this at home, unless you know what you are doing.

Pics

 

[6spdmanual]

Don’t listen to the haters FNB. They’re are the same bunch asking demanding for the return of the cheque book.

 

[memyselfandi]

Nedbank customers are in a similar situation, with the bank requiring them to deactivate the feature at a branch or through its contact centre.

Not true. I can switch mine of on the Nedbank app.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Card gets stolen...useless thief realises your card has tap-and-go enabled and he knows of a store that doesn't also require the use of a pin (like Checkers does with a Standard Bank card for instance).

The rest of your money, as they say in the movies, is history...

It’s all insured.

Any half brained criminal would use your card online instead…an avenue that still exists if you disable RFID.

 

[SauRoNZA]

lol my girlfriend and I were actually talking about exactly this over the past weekend as she wanted to disable the feature (on FNB) and I also wanted to know why.

So her argument was that everyone knows about the R500 pin-less limit, so under the right circumstances unknowingly losing your card and for some odd reason also not having your phone handy for an extended period to see SMS's, a criminal could just swipe sub 500 amounts till some daily limit is reached

And if you turn it off they can still burn thousands of rands online at the right places.

It’s really a non-issue.

There is no increased risk.

 

[epah]

Do people not understand that tap to pay transactions are insured and you will be reimbursed if the transactions are fraudulent.

I understand if you use capitec because you probably already have a tiny amount left in your account and can’t afford to wait for an investigation to get your money back.

What’s the big deal here?

 

[Nod]

lol my girlfriend and I were actually talking about exactly this over the past weekend as she wanted to disable the feature (on FNB) and I also wanted to know why.

So her argument was that everyone knows about the R500 pin-less limit, so under the right circumstances unknowingly losing your card and for some odd reason also not having your phone handy for an extended period to see SMS's, a criminal could just swipe sub 500 amounts till some daily limit is reached

I get randomly asked for my pin for amounts below R500 (FNB).

 

[Johand]

I would like to see some real research into how tap-to-pay is a security concern... I think it is better for my security because my bankcard almost never-ever leaves my wallet - I tap and pay using my phone which I unlock using my fingerprint. It also *reduces* the number of times I have to enter my pin and pins are dangerous - everybody tells you not to share your pin, but if you want to use your card then you have to enter your pin which is essentially the same as sharing. It is possible to get the pins using low-tech or high-tech methods from wherever you use your pin.

 

[OhYeah84]

It’s all insured.

Any half brained criminal would use your card online instead…an avenue that still exists if you disable RFID.

I doubt that the common pickpocket is some form of e-commerce genius who will be heading for the first Internet cafe to buy off of Wish.com.
No, they'll head to a shop and use as much as they can. Who cares if the card is disabled 20 minutes later if they've bought all the goods they wanted with the money they could access in that period of time.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I doubt that the common pickpocket is some form of e-commerce genius who will be heading for the first Internet cafe to buy off of Wish.com.
No, they'll head to a shop and use as much as they can. Who cares if the card is disabled 20 minutes later if they've bought all the goods they wanted with the money they could access in that period of time.

You’ll find they actually resell it to someone else for a lot less to do with as they please.

Criminals know exactly how to get the most out of everything.

 

[OhYeah84]

You’ll find they actually resell it to someone else for a lot less to do with as they please.

Criminals know exactly how to get the most out of the everything.

I guess you missed the point I was making, but it's OK.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I guess you missed the point I was making, but it's OK.

Your point is flawed.

There is no increased risk to you, it’s all insured either which way.

Besides, just stop using cards as a whole and you have even less problems.

Or stop having your stuff stolen. It’s an anomalous event to start with.

Also your mistake is thinking Internet cafés even still exist. They can do everything from their phones within minutes. This is their day job after all. Do you know how to do your job? Well, so do they.

 

[Swa]

People miss the point. It's not using the card for small transactions but rather stealing the info from the card and using that online in larger transactions. That can still happen even after disabling tap to pay as the chip is still active.

 

[Nuro]

People miss the point. It's not using the card for small transactions but rather stealing the info from the card and using that online in larger transactions. That can still happen even after disabling tap to pay as the chip is still active.

No, you can't use the info from tap and pay for online transactions.
From Capitec's site:

Limited information – The information transmitted during a tap to pay transaction is very limited. Your name, account number
and the security code (CVC) aren’t transmitted

 

[OhYeah84]

Your point is flawed.

There is no increased risk to you, it’s all insured either which way.

Besides, just stop using cards as a whole and you have even less problems.

Or stop having your stuff stolen. It’s an anomalous event to start with.

Also your mistake is thinking Internet cafés even still exist. They can do everything from their phones within minutes. This is their day job after all. Do you know how to do your job? Well, so do they.

Assumptions are also flawed, just like parts of your own argument...I've never had a card stolen for one. I only use cards #2. But please feel free and go back and read what I said, in the context I said it. Then come back and try be intellectual.

As a short recap: there would be some anxiety for someone reporting their card stolen if they've got all their cash in that card and they know it has been used in the time they took to realise the card was stolen, they cancelled said card, and contacted their bank for a refund. Now, not sure what universe you live in, but I know banks aren't that quick so the person has the potential to be out of pocket for the (short, albeit) time it takes a bank to refund the money after doing their investigation.

Nothing about my argument was flawed, but your comprehension clearly is. It was an example of how you COULD be affected.

As for Internet cafes, I was being facetious.

K, bye bye now!

 

[SauRoNZA]

Assumptions are also flawed, just like parts of your own argument...I've never had a card stolen for one. I only use cards #2. But please feel free and go back and read what I said, in the context I said it. Then come back and try be intellectual.

As a short recap: there would be some anxiety for someone reporting their card stolen if they've got all their cash in that card and they know it has been used in the time they took to realise the card was stolen, they cancelled said card, and contacted their bank for a refund. Now, not sure what universe you live in, but I know banks aren't that quick so the person has the potential to be out of pocket for the (short, albeit) time it takes a bank to refund the money after doing their investigation.

Nothing about my argument was flawed, but your comprehension clearly is. It was an example of how you COULD be affected.

As for Internet cafes, I was being facetious.

K, bye bye now!

So if they were carrying the money in cash in their wallet what then?

Then it would be gone, permanently, with no recourse.

This literally is a non-issue. You can block the card within seconds from the app, don’t need to wait on the phone or in a queue or anything.

But if you look after it in the first place none of this is a problem.

You can’t plan your life according to the 0.1% anomaly and inconvenience the other 99.9% with bullshit logic like this.

It’s conspiracy theorist kak right behind anti-vaxing.

 

[neoprema]

I think Capitec will be better for your needs

Unless you ever need to do something like get cash at an ATM..

I was at a mall yesterday - ABSA, 6 ATMS, no queue. Nedbank, 4 ATMs no Queue, Standard, 4 ATMs no queue.

Capitec - 1 ATM, i counted 48 people in the queue and it looked longer when i walked back. I'de never touch them.