Contactless payment.

In plain English

A contactless payment is a way to pay by holding your card or phone within an inch or two of the store's card reader, which reads it over a short-range radio signal. The card or phone sends a one-time code for each purchase, not your real card number, so the same code cannot be reused if it is stolen. You will see a small wave symbol on cards and readers that support it. It works for the same purchases as a regular tap-or-swipe, just faster and without contact.

01Why it matters

It is faster at the register and harder to skim than a swipe, because the reader never stores your actual card number. For everyday spending, that means fewer chances for a thief to copy your card.

02The math, step by step

You buy coffee for $4.50. You hold your phone near the reader, it beeps, and you are done in under a second. Behind the scenes, your phone sent a unique code for that one $4.50 charge, so even if someone intercepted it, they could not use it to buy anything else.

03What this is NOT

04Receipts

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