The world is going contactless

Huge rise in contactless credit card usage

Posted on June 5, 2015June 5, 2015 by admin

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON (TfL)

has revealed that it is seeing 1.2 million contactless transactions every day, a figure that it expects to grow following the arrival of Apple Pay and Android Pay in the UK.

What hasn’t been mentioned is the large number of incidents of so called “card clash” that results in double payment or over payment of travel charges. https://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/oyster/using-oyster/card-clash
Indications are that there have been tens if not hundreds of thousands of repayments made by TFL and that can only be where the customer has actually realised that this overpayment has occurred. So when MasterCard says that every terminal in Europe will accept contactless by 2020 http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/you-ll-be-able-to-use-contactless-payments-anywhere-from-2020-1295733 you can see we are heading rapidly to a cashless society. Our educated guess is that  anyone wanting to access your card details will have to use ever more sophisticated methods of getting at your data. And guess what all the latest Smart Phones including now the I-phone6 are equipped with NFC (Near field communication) and with a simple app you can extract bank card details. If you don’t believe it take a look at how many bank card readers are already available on Google play store https://play.google.com/store/search?q=nfc%20reader&c=apps this for both your contactless credit card, debit card and even your passport which; yes you guessed it has exactly the same kind of contactless chip embedded with all of your vital identity data.
Gizmo and VoyagerBlue work closely to bring you effective security for your contactless cards and passports allowing you to gain from the benefits whilst remaining confident you have added security. Visit www.gizmopromo.co.uk  now to see how little it costs for peace of mind.

Watch out for new products coming soon to keep up with the rapid development of contactless payments.

The rise and rise of contactless payment technology

The rise and rise of contactless payment technology.

 

Although seemingly slow to take off in the early days contactless payment technology now seems to be gathering momentum. Poland leads the way in Europe according to Visa’s Mark Austin; with just over 158M transactions using contactless cards in 2013. The UK saw 94M payments using contactless cards, up from 25M in 2012. 

TFL made the decision to go cashless on the London bus network from mid 2014 and already around 50% of what were previously cash transactions are now made using contactless. The expansion of the system across the Tube and DLR etc will be mirrored throughout the UK, for example in Manchester on the Metro and across Liverpool’s rail station network. 

The intended closure of London underground ticket offices (recent Tube strikes) demonstrates the impact on the use of cash and the costs to business of using cash when compared to the lower costs of automated contactless payments. However this convenience doesn’t come without issues. 

TFL has a major awareness campaign (posters, speaker announcements and internet adverts included) warning about what they describe as “card clash”. So what is card clash? Is it your credit debit cards arguing over payment? Of course not; what is really being described is the inability of the contactless payment reader to know which card you intend to use. Most of us carry several bank cards as well as travel cards such as Oyster. The payment terminal will take payment from the first card it properly connects with, whether or not that is the card you intend to use. Much advice is to separate your cards (carry two wallets?).  What happens if you enter the travel system for example London Underground and pass your wallet over the reader to log in your journey? The terminal reads card A, you then exit the system at the end of your journey and when you log out card B is read. Well you would be charged maximum fare on each card as you only have one read on each card and thus one journey on each card without a start and finish point. 

That’s where a simple and effective way of putting you back in control of your cards and when they get scanned comes in. VoyagerBlue contactless card shields are patented; fully tested and when in your wallet or purse next to your contactless credit or debit card will block any unwanted transactions. Watch video here. They will also prevent the possibility of fraudulent scanning of your personal data. The same technology will prevent unwanted scanning of your biometric passport. This may seem a little futuristic but already apps are available for modern smart phones that will read information on the chips used in bank cards, passports and more. FIND OUT MORE 

There were reports in the media earlier this year about unwanted transactions at major retailers in the UK due to proximity of readers to cards at till locations. 300,000 terminals were in place by the end of 2013 in major high street retailers and this will significantly increase through 2014/15 as the technology is more widely accepted. 

With all major issuers offering contactless cards and around 35 Million contactless cards already issued in the UK we will see continued rapid growth in this sector and its effect on the use of cash for lower value payments. The author also believes that the value of payments allowed per transaction will increase in the near future as the use of contactless cards becomes a major payment method. 

Food for thought, do you embrace the technology or do like the security (or not) of cash. Your data/personal information is being carried by the chips in your everyday items, watch out for the same technology in hotel room keys, season tickets and more and consider do you need to take steps to be in control of your “contactless”. Take a look at the video to see how you can keep control of your cards and data.  Watch Video

Never lose your wallet or phone again (and more).

Do you ever get halfway to work and realise your phone is on the breakfast table? 

There is now a solution. 

Have you ever dropped your wallet in a restaurant or left it at a till? 

There is now a solution.

The advent of Bluetooth low energy has allowed our VoyagerBlue development team to create  “App” based Gizmo’s that help to prevent the loss of your most valuable possessions.

For a number of years there have been high profile cases of laptops being lost with valuable data then left vulnerable, private and personal data such as Army medical records, recruitment details, and sensitive legal documents. In many cases they have just been forgotten in a café on a journey, left under a restaurant table only for an opportunist to make off.

Imagine if those responsible got an alert as they left the restaurant that they had left behind their valuable cargo  and they could turn right round and collect it?

Many of us have set of on a business journey and realised after some time that it has been a “quiet” morning. “Good grief my phone” Turn round and drive miles back and be late for your meeting or do without and miss that valuable sales enquiry. Well most folk have been the accidental victim of their own memory malfunction or scrambled busy mind.

There is now an answer with two invaluable devices that link to an App on your Smart phone, i-phone, i-pad, tablet or notebook.

The walletTag is a small slim “TAG” that slips inside your wallet, purse, laptop case etc, The SmartTag is a key Fob style device that fits on your keys, luggage, laptop case and even your kids. Using low energy Bluetooth connection with your smart device our proximity App then alerts you in one of two ways to the fact you have left your valuables behind.

As you walk out of the café where you have left your wallet with the Tag inside or your laptop case likewise your phone recognises that you have gone out of range of the Tags and sounds an alarm that notifies you immediately “Wallet” “laptop” or whatever valuable device you have just forgotten (you name each device as you please when you connect the App). You are still within just a few metres or yards of your valuable and can immediately return to pick it up before someone else does.

With the key fob device attached say to your car keys should you leave your home and leave your phone on the breakfast table an audible alarm will emit from the fob reminding you to pop back for your phone or tablet before you drive halfway to work. Both Tag and Fob (WalletTag and SmartTag) have two way find me systems, so if you cant find your phone in the house simply press the find me button and the phone will emit a pre-set alarm while you search it out.

Now on the Smart phone or tablet the App will do even more for you, If you have for some reason not heard the alert telling you that you have just left a café and left your wallet or laptop or even car keys then the App will record the location using your phones GPS system when you do realise you are missing your valuable, click on the App to discover where you left it.

Complicated? Not at all, take a look at the video demonstration and find out how you can prevent the loss of your valuables with WalletTag and SmartTag. Watch video here.

Please note the Map locater shows where you left your device, it is not a tracker but an aid to reminding you where you last had it.  

Contactless, RFID, NFC, what's it to you?

Contactless cards, RFID blocking, NFC enabled; what does the jargon mean and how does it affect your everyday life?

 

• Contactless cards, “contactless” has become the generic term in the banking industry for the type of payment system where you simply wave your credit or debit card close to a payment terminal which uses radio waves to link with your bank card to collect payment. The bank card has a microchip embedded that is activated by the radio waves and allows interrogation of the data contained in the chip. Designed to be speedy you do not need to enter a PIN number or signature. The maximum amount you can spend in one transaction varies around the world, for example Australia’s limit is $100 where the UK currently allows £20. Expect these limits to increase as the system becomes more widespread. You can identify a contactless credit card by the “Wi-Fi” symbol on the front of the card.

 

RFID blocking, RFID or Radio Frequency Identification is the two way communication between for example the payment terminal and the contactless card. There are two main frequencies for RFID. Bank cards and passports operate on the 13.56Mhz frequency. The terminal “identifies” the card the card carries identification data. RFID blocking is as it sounds blocking or preventing the radio signal from interacting with the contactless chip embedded in the bank card.

 

• NFC enabled; NFC is near field communication, allowing exchange of data between two or more devices in close proximity. Modern android phones are good examples of a device you may own that has NFC functionability in other words NFC enabled.

What can you do with your contactless card? Well the rapid payment technology means you can pay at the checkout in around 5 seconds, Whizz through the M6 toll just by waving your card close to the toll machine, travel on London buses and very soon the London underground along with many other regional transport systems without the need to fumble around for the right money. Simply wave and pay.

 

So we have bank cards and passports in growing numbers (over 30Million bank cards in UK alone) and a world full of devices that can communicate with the data chip contained. Just take a look in the App store and find apps that will read your bank details and your biometric or e-passport data. If you have an NFC enabled phone why not try it yourself.

 

The UK has seen many press articles, radio even TV reports regarding accidental scanning in stores and on transport systems so a problem has already been identified. Your card may be debited while still in your purse or wallet even though you wanted to use cash or a different bank card. here's an example London buses charge wrong card

 

We are constantly hearing reports about bank security being attacked at all levels including high level cybercrime. Think about the technical implications of having your data accessible to eavesdropping by radio scanners. Even someone stood alongside you with a mobile phone or laptop bag may be NFC enabled. We expect that attempts will be made to crack the security of this system as criminal gangs use more and more advanced and audacious methods to steal money and data. Sign up for alerts here ALERTS 

A £20 theft from a bank card may not trouble most people for a long time but the theft of a person’s identity is a far more serious issue, in some cases it takes years to resolve. A recent study showed for example that 1 in 14 Americans were victims of credit card identity fraud. 

Sign up to our e-mail alerts and we will keep you updated with the latest frauds and scams doing the rounds, and with developments in how to keep your identity and valuables safe. It’s free and you can expect an update around once per month with emergency alerts if we see a particularly dangerous fraud threat. 

Sign up now at www.gizmopromotions.co.uk

 

visit our facebook page or check us out on Google+.

 

Take a look at these shields to protect your contactless cards.

 

 

 

Contactless payments on the tube

It won’t be long now until contactless credit and debit cards will be accepted for payment on the London underground. You can read about the implementation of this payment method here; Standard.

Despite the claims of security the main reason for the use of this type of card has to be speed of movement of passengers, anyone who has travelled the tube will understand the need to move people quickly through the gates and what happens when gates get blocked so this really does look like an advantageous system. However we have already had reports of accidental scanning of cards at other outlets such as Marks and Spencer etc, read more here; Guardian.

 

If you present two different cards on entry and exit most likely you will be debited on both cards. If you don’t realise this and claim it back then you will lose out. How much time will it take you to go through such a claim? How easy will TFL make it?

 

 

What about the security of cards? Yes they are highly encrypted, but surely anything that is coded by humans can be decoded. Researchers at the university of Surrey have been conducting experiments into the scanning of contactless credit and debit cards, their research shows that this is a technical possibility and as our regular visitors to our site www.gizmopromotions.co.uk will know we already demonstrate that free Apps are available to download that enable android Smartphone’s to communicate with and extract information from contactless bank cards and biometric passports. These apps currently work within legal parameters but there are enough tech savvy people out there on the Dark side who will try to crack any security measures. A great example is the recent attacks on computers in Santander and Barclays branches in London.

 

So how do you guard against accidental or fraudulent scanning of your contactless bank card? (The ones with a Wi-Fi symbol on the front). You could wrap your card in Tin foil or nuke it in the microwave as some more extreme solutions or you could take simple low cost measures. The VoyagerBlue contactless credit card shield sits in your wallet or purse right next to your contactless bank card. It blocks the radio signal from official terminals or from someone trying to read it with a scanner you are unaware of.

Using your card normally and speeding through the gate is simple, take it out of your wallet or purse to use and then replace next to the shield, keeping you in control and making sure your valuable money and data is secure at all other times.

 

Take a look at the shields and decide for yourself, for less than £5 you can prevent unwanted scanning, either accidental or fraudulent. You can also take a look for our new products about to launch to prevent loss of your wallet. WalletTag will alert you in seconds if you become separated from your wallet/purse passport etc.

 

See a selection of video on our YouTube page

 

 

Contactless, Scare stories our balanced view.

The recent Stories about contactless cards have generated a great amount of interest from both sides of the fence. A lot of what has been said is made out to be from one kind of expert or another. Watchdog, Radio 4, The Mail etc. 

                                                      www.gizmopromotions.co.uk

To let you know where our expertise comes from; the inventor of VoyagerBlue; Andre Kay spent 30 years presenting and supplying authentication technologies to government, airlines and airports for the detection counterfeit or altered travel documents.

His invention of a shielding solution specific for 13.56 MHZ – ISO 14443 Type A&B started more than six years ago, way before most of the card providers actually provided contactless credit and debit cards. It took many years of development and almost 5 years to get the patent granted; it was a lengthy, complex process. 

Taking the issue very seriously and rather than simple select a technology that might do the job e.g. tin foil or a metallic wallet , VoyagerBlue employed the academic services of the University of Bolton to develop a technology that they and we now know, does the job! Proven! Check out many of the articles on the web which say some products (i.e. wallets sleeves etc) work to different levels and some are not good at all.  

VoyagerBlue has been tested and retested and it works. See the video demonstration here. VIDEO DEMO 

Like antivirus software, we provide a solution that works well, is specifically designed to block (RF) radio frequencies communication with contactless cards without your knowledge and if the public feel a threat, driven by news coverage, yet substantiated by Universities such as Newcastle Universities Department of Cyber Crime & Computer Sciences and wish to buy a solution that gives them peace of mind and protection, we have that with our VoyagerBlue credit card and passport shields. 

We are fully aware that bank security experts place a high value on security. However it is our understanding from numerous cryptologists and cryptanalysts, if it was coded by a human, it can be decoded by a human. I think most people are also aware that organised crime gangs also put a high value on breaking that security. We can assure you the level of sophistication of these very well organised and well financed criminal groups is perhaps equal to that of government departments and many banks. For example the $45Million Heist a few weeks ago was completed by hacking into a banks security system and cloning cards.

 

We also know that banks send out contactless cards in “shielded envelopes” so they must envisage some “threat”.

 

It is public knowledge that modern android phones have the technology to scan contactless bank cards and passports with any number of extremely talented “apps” experts out there both professional and amateur it is not beyond the realms that some may want to use their skills for non legitimate reasons.

We do believe contactless cards have a lot to offer, for example on travel networks skimming through pay points without hesitation. We also know that the nature of the contactless chip which is only activated by scanner signal allows it to be contacted by a signal from unauthorised sources. If that signal also carries the correct method of releasing the information contained on the card then the data will be passed. Watch video of Oystercard use with VoyagerBlue here. OYSTER?VOYAGER 

The VoyagerBlue card although technically advanced actually does a very simple task. It makes your contactless card or passport invisible until you want to use it. Simply put it next to your contactless bank card in your wallet or purse. When you want to use the card safely remove from wallet and tap the payment terminal with your contactless card remembering to place back next to the shield to keep your data safe. 

The flexibility of our production allows you to purchase a standard design card which at £4.99 is low cost for such a potentially high value security solution. (Antivirus for your computer is around £30-£40 a year!) 

Or if you desire you can personalise your card with your own unique image.


 

 

Corporate clients can design the card to carry their brand message and benefit from volume production rates. An ideal and innovative item of corporate merchandising. 

We offer a CHOICE in this increasingly technological and “snooping” world to keep a little part of our lives INVISIBLE.

VISIT US AT www.gizmopromotions.co.uk

RFID protection and its promotional use.

There is a major change in the technology of many bank cards, hotel room keys loyalty cards etc. Read here how you can make a stronghold of your wallet or purse to protect your ID. And how you can use the patented VoyagerBlue cards as innovative and useful corporate merchandise to promote your own business.
Patented VoyagerBlue featured on BBC radio2  on the Simon Mayo drivetime show http://goo.gl/EHg9N
The increase in contactless data transfer technology - on our passports, credit / payment cards, loyalty cards and other forms of direct and indirect identity - are all designed to aid efficiency and reduce waiting times. However, each of these technologies lends themselves to sniffing, eavesdropping and skimming - which can be very costly to your personal data.
RFID protection is important because It has been demonstrated that in many cases, this data can be inconspicuously skimmed by the person stood next to you, using a modern mobile phone and apps which are readily available. Copied cards can be printed in minutes using commercially available (and cheap) card printers and re-writers. CBS news reports that every 79 seconds, a thief steals someone's identity.
In London we have first hand accounts of transport system readers accidentally scanning bank cards rather than correctly reading travel cards.  http://goo.gl/fWJvQ and http://goo.gl/RR4R2 are recent articles about this issue.
Prevention is better than cure, and the only effective way to shield your contactless data from theft is by denying access. While there are less conventional methods of achieving this (such as wrapping your cards in tin foil), the patented design of the removable VoyagerBlue shields provides optimal protection in a manner which does not conflict with the convenience of the use of your contactless devices.
With considerable experience in developing and selling technology solutions for government, aviation and the military, we wanted to develop a solution which protected electronic devices working in the 13.56MHz range, including e-Passports, credit/debit/payment cards (including Oyster and sQuid), and electronic identity cards and passes.
VoyagerBlues extensive research with partners including advanced fabric development and transmission experts at the University of Bolton, Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus, and the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council resulted in a family of patented products to protect sensitive personal data.
The solution is manufactured from very tough fabric, laminated for surface printing and has the appearance and feel of a standard card - all aspects which are protected in our patents. It is designed to be as thin as possible, ensuring easy insertion into a wallet or passport while providing the maximum protection for data held within the chip.
Further to our current product range, we continue to work with a wide range of partners in the development of the VoyagerBlue product range and other solutions. Should you have any partnering interests in the development or exploitation of technical products, don't hesitate to contact us.
How It Works
All of your contactless devices contain a chip and antenna embedded in the body of the device - this is separate to the contact chip you often see on the surface. When the card is brought into the proximity of a reading device, the reader's electromagnetic field provides power to the contactless chip and a wireless data transfer protocol is initiated with the intent of data transfer.
The majority of contactless devices operate on a frequency of 13.56MHz, consistent with the ISO/IEC 14443 standard. Although this provides an activation distance of approximately 10cm (4ins), this depends on factors including the power within the receiver and size of antenna. Read distances in excess on 1m have been achieved.

Other shielding options effectively "wrap" the chip in a protective material, completely preventing access to the antenna; solutions include wallets and the use of foil which is effective, but often impractical.
VoyagerBlue  take a more innovative approach - our fabric provides an extremely high attenuation rate decreasing the strength of the reader's electromagnetic field and hence preventing communication between the reader and contactless devices.
This has proven to work when placed in front of (and covering) contactless devices, and is less intrusive than individual wallets for each card / passport. The contactless device can be made active by separating the card and shield - effectively taking the chip and antenna out of the protective proximity of the energy-absorbing fabric.
So how can Gizmo and VoyagerBlue help you promote your business?

The cards are available in credit card size and passport size. They can be fully printed on both sides giving you an excellent print area compared to many popular promotional; items such as pens or USB sticks. You can choose to print on one or both sides and we have an optional standard instruction design if you prefer.
Credit card shields give you the opportunity to get your brand in your customers wallet, and unlike other promotional gifts that have a fairly limited life the card will last at least as long as a regular credit card.
The passport shields which are the same size as a standard passport offer even more printing space for your corporate message. Ideal for promoting your brand, and an innovative new product that  will get your clients talking. These remarkable available from minimums of just 50 to any amount.  Promotional merchandise enquiries visit here. http://goo.gl/17ipi
Or if you just want to protect yourself and your family visit our retail site where you can even personalise your  VoyagerBlue shield with family pictures or your favourite holiday snap, you choose.  You can buy VoyagerBlue here. http://goo.gl/lJ6Vn