Contactless / tap-to-pay.

In plain English

Contactless payment lets a card or device complete a purchase by being held within a few centimeters of a terminal. The card and reader exchange data over short-range radio, and the card's chip generates a unique cryptogram for that one transaction, so intercepting it produces nothing reusable. It counts as a card-present transaction with the same protections as inserting the chip. Terminals may require a PIN or a biometric above a set amount, and issuers can force verification after a number of consecutive taps.

01Why it matters

Tapping is a card-present transaction, so the fraud liability rules that favor you at a physical terminal apply, which is not the case when you type the same card number into a website.

02The math, step by step

Say a stolen card is tapped for three small purchases before the terminal demands a PIN. The thief is stopped there, and the earlier charges fall under unauthorized transaction rules rather than sitting on you as a loss to absorb.

Illustrative example. The amounts here are hypothetical, chosen to show how the math works, not real quoted rates or figures.

03What this is NOT

04Receipts

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