Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Paywave cards safe, media report is not true

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) today said recent media postings on electronic pick-pocketing on individuals with contactless cards were not true.

In a statement, it said contactless cards were equipped with safety features that made them a secure mode of payment.

Paywave card

"Since 2005, all payment cards in Malaysia have adopted Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) chip card technology which prevents the cloning of cards.

"Details such as card number and expiry date which can be obtained via a scanner are inadequate for cards to be cloned, be it magnetic stripe cards or EMV chip cards.

"To date, there are no cases of cloned EMV chip cards being reported," it said.

The central bank said contactless cards have an embedded EMV chip with advanced cryptographic security that generated a dynamic code for each transaction.

"This renders contactless cards to be almost impossible to be cloned or counterfeited," it said.

BNM said Malaysia also adopted a stronger authentication method for online card transactions where cardholders are required to enter a transaction authorisation code (TAC) which is sent to their mobile phones or security devices. It said that Malaysian cardholders are protected by the liability shift rules introduced by the international card network.

"In the event card details are misused at an overseas merchant’s website that has yet to implement a stronger authentication method, the said merchant will bear the liability of any fraudulent transaction.

"Cardholders are to notify their issuing bank immediately when their payment card is lost or stolen, if their personal identification number was compromised or noticed unauthorised transactions made using their cards," it added. - 
BERNAMA