Scam scam scam

[irelephant@lemm.ee]

On some revolut (finance app, popular in ireland) cards the magenetic strip is disabled by default.

[dan@upvote.au]

It's a thing (or used to be a thing) in Australia too: a voucher or prepaid debit card that can only be used to buy food, given to low-income residents.

Australia actually has a proper safety net for low-income residents though, with public health care and monthly payments from the government if you're unemployed and looking for a job, or you're a child / young adult and your parents are low income, or a few other cases.

[dan@upvote.au]

Mastercard started removing the magnetic strip from new cards this year in some European countries, and want to completely remove it by 2029.

In the US, I've actually got one card that doesn't have a magnetic strip: a debit card for Target stores (gives 5% discount for every purchase which is why I have it).

[dan@upvote.au]

Tap to pay is much safer though.

[kammicrelief@lemmy.world]

oh! ah and now I see the hands. I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes. thanks!

[danvctr@sh.itjust.works]

What's a CD? /s

[crazylikegollum@lemmy.world]

Not if you're using your card. The card can still be cloned with a few seconds of physical access. Also, with a card, there's no PIN verification with tap to pay and no signature requirements. Because of that most countries have transaction size limits for tap to pay. Usually in the $50-$100 USD range. The US, notably has no such limits. So, if someone steals your card they can use it up to your balance/credit limit, or up to the transaction limit your bank sets, typically about $10,000 USD.

Tap to pay using a phone, apple watch, or similar device is more secure because they have actual 2FA and generate unique payment information for each transaction on top of the already existing encryption of the transaction data. Additionally, cloning the underlying payment info would require being able to access the secure enclave on the phone.