A recent poll of 2200 UK residents found 77% of respondents feel that the roll out of contactless payment cards will make it easier for criminals to spend money on lost and stolen cards. One stated fear was the fact that the cards don’t require a PIN for small value purchases. More than a third of those surveyed also shared concerns about fraudsters hacking into personal details.
Even more concerning may be the fact that even after the London launch of contactless cards being rolled out in London in September 2007, a massive 88% of Brits haven’t even heard of contactless payment cards.
With the negative results, several positive things appeared as well. Roughly half (49%) of respondents believe the technology will result in shorter lines and the same percentage liked the idea of not carrying cash. Nearly a quarter (23%) of those polled also felt contactless cards gave them more control since they don’t leave the cardholder’s hands at the point-of-sale. 34% of those polled think they will actually spend more as a result of the added convenience and ease that these cards bring.
Geoff Barker, head of contactless payments at CPP the firm doing the research, says Apacs has forecasted that there will be 5 million contactless cards in circulation and 100,000 contactless merchant terminals in place by the end of 2008, so people need to get used to the technology and the financial services industry needs to dispel some popular myths around security and fraud. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/archive-4.gif)
