[LINK] refusing contactless cards

Roger Clarke Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Fri Aug 2 08:48:13 AEST 2013


At 23:45 +1000 1/8/13, Paul Brooks wrote:
>On 1/08/2013 5:37 PM, Harry McNally wrote:
>>  I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that the fast response of PayWave 
>>meant it was
>>  not authenticating the transaction in real time. So it's not clear to me how
>>  the transaction limit will prevent loss (or theft). If the transaction is
>>  later declined then the merchant has a loss.
>No - if the transaction is later declined after the bank terminal 
>gave the green light
>for the customer to walk out with the goods, then the *bank* has the 
>loss, not the
>merchant.

News to me.

My understanding is that the bank merely issues a chargeback to the 
merchant's account.

<anecdote>
A few years back, I heard some stats that banks don't usually publish.
In one particular year, Kiwibank had losses from credit fraud of $1,000.
The reason is that all transactions that fail are charged back to merchants.
Once in a while, a merchant skips or goes bust first, and the bank 
actually pays.
</anecdote>

-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 6916                        http://about.me/roger.clarke
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University



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