[LINK] contactless credit cards

[Ash Nallawalla]

> From: Stilgherrian

> Holding a card stationary for two seconds is clearly a major advance over
> swiping a card through a reader and pressing a few buttons taking three
> seconds. Unless we implement this vital time-saving technology
> immediately, our civilisation will grind to a halt through inefficiency. I
know
> we're throwing away one of the two authentication factors, but clearly
it's
> worth ridding our world of the debilitating physical burden of swiping.
> Moreover, the business of selling point of sale equipment and payment
> systems, struggling to make a dollar as it is -- especially Visa which I
am sure is
> on the verge of bankruptcy -- needs the boost.

So it's preferable that a taxi driver or waiter using a portable skimmer can
continue to clone cards? I imagine that bank access cards seemed just as
insecure when they were launched as NFC technology appears today. Perhaps we
should go back to pass books, since the bank tellers knew each customer
personally and transactions were much more secure.