A credit or debit card can be used in three was. First is ‘Contact Based’ usage, the second is ‘Card Not Present’ (CNP) i.e. Online Transaction and the third is ‘Contactless’ usage.
The contact based usage of the card is when you use it at the ATMs or Point of Sale (POS) transactions where your card comes in the contact of the machine. Either card is inserted in ATM slot or swiped in the POS machine.
The second usage of the card is to use the card for online transactions where no need to give the card anyone. You have to only enter the card details.
And the third, Contactless usage of the card is to make a transaction through the tapping or waving the card near the POS terminal. This usage is for the small value transactions only. In this situation, there is bi requirement to swipe the card in POS nor to enter the PIN to authenticate the transaction. Only you have to tap or wave the card near the POS machine or terminal.
Thus in this post, we will talk about the contactless usage of the credit and debit card based on the recent perspective.
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Message To disable Contact-less Usage of the Card From Your Bank
Have you received a message from your bank regarding the disabling of your card? It would be the disabling of some services in your card but not the card itself. I have received a message. Have a look.
In this message the bank is informing that as per the RBI Mandate the contactless usage for my credit card will be deactivated soon.
One more message is here which informs that the online purchase facility is disabled due to never use of this service.
Why This Message
If you are using a debit or credit card and till now did not use it for the contactless usage, definitely you have received this message. But did you think why have you received this message?
In its notification on 15th January 2020, the RBI has introduced new rules for card transactions. These rules would enhance the security of your bank account. The rules would have to be effective from the March. However, later it was deferred because of the Corona Lockdown.
The RBI has instructed that all card issuers must disable the contactless and online payment services on the cards including the virtual cards. But only for those cards which are not used for the online or contactless transactions till now.
It means if you have used your card even only one time for online or contactless service before this date, these services will not be disabled on your card. But in the case of new cards after this date, these services will not be available automatically. Further you have to apply for that. The rule was introduced to keep you secure from the online fraud.
Difference Between Debit and Credit card
Which Facilities Will be Added/ Continue
In spite of disabling of the contactless facility, the card issuers and banks have to provide the following facilities on your card-
- The contact based usage facility like ATM and POS service
- Switch on and switch off for the domestic and international usage services on your cards like online transactions, contactless transactions along with ATM and POS transactions
- Set or modify the limit of your card for all type of transactions as above
- Above facilities will be available round the clock with different channels. Like Mobile Application, Internet Banking, ATM, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and through the branches or offices.
- If there is any change in the status of your card, the card issuer or bank will inform you immediately through the SMS or EMail.
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What are Contact-less Usages
When you buy a product or services under the contactless usage through your debit or credit card, it works on RFID technology. This RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology is automatically enabled on your card.
You know for the toll charges the FASTag works on the same RFID technology. When you cross the toll plaza the tag reader reads the FASTag without touching it and toll deducts from your linked bank account.
Thus the contactless cards work on secure radio interface same as mobile wallets. These are different from traditional cards. The usage of contactless cards are-
- For the domestic transactions at India’s leading merchants like Starbucks, Mc. Donald’s, Big Bazar etc.
- Thus to buy clothes, food, groceries in the domestic market
- These transactions must be below Rs. 2000
- For the international transactions to purchase something from the international market
What should you do
If bank has disabled the online and contact-less transaction in your card you can activate it anytime. The banks would have sent you the SMS code for the activation of the service as you have seen the above screenshot. Use that code and send SMS to activate the usage of the card.
You can also activate it through the Online banking platform or Mobile banking. The facility would have been give under the card services section.
You can also call the customer care number to activate the desired type of the transaction.
Further, you can deactivate the services anytime in the future using same methods. Thus, now you can easily keep your bank account safe.
However, I would suggest you to keep your card in use only for the contact based usage. And for the online or contactless usage, you may use the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) service. It is not only the easier but the safer method as well.
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