What is the the future of credit cards? Technology is advancing so rapidly that it is becoming difficult to tell where we will be even one year from now. However, it is easier to understand where the future of credit cards will be, since credit card development is slightly slower. Security features play a large part of credit card technology and these take time to develop and test.
Featured Bankwest Credit Card
The Bankwest Breeze MasterCard comes with a low rate on purchases. This is one of the lowest interest rates you can find on any card, which helps reduce the stress of managing your finances every month. You can rest easy knowing that you will never again have to pay a high interest rate.
- $49 annual fee
- 0% p.a. for 6 months (reverts to 10.99% p.a.) on purchases
- 4.99% p.a. for 9 months on balance transfers
- Cash Advance Rate of 21.99% p.a.
- 55 days interest free
- Minimum Income Requirement of $20,000 p.a.
- Enjoy up to 55 days of interest free shopping.
As of today, there are already many new developments in the credit card industry. Of course, you can still sign for a credit card purchase if you wish, and you can enter your PIN. However, you can also use the chip in the reader or simply wave your card over a contactless reader.
Here are some of the new credit card processing mechanisms:
- PIN – Instead of signing for your purchases, you can enter your PIN number to complete the transaction. While it may be possible for someone to forge your signature, your PIN number is meant to be a secret number that only you know. Using your PIN number should keep your card more secure.
- Chip – You can enter your card into the chip reader. Using your chip to make transactions is an even more secure method of conducting credit card transactions. This method of using a chip greatly reduces fraud, especially credit card skimming. A skimming scam in Western Australia recently stole 2.5 million dollars – using a chip reader will stop such scammers in their tracks.
- Contactless payments – Visa and MasterCard both have contactless readers that allow cardholders to simply wave their card in front of the terminal to pay for their purchases. Visa uses Paywave while MasterCard uses Paypass. This method of payment can be used for purchases under $35 and is most commonly used at convenience stores and fast food outlets, where speed of payment is very important.
Of course, not all of these new methods are available in all areas of Australia. These methods are becoming more and more popular, so you should soon be able to use them locally where you live. In particular, the chip and PIN system has been found to reduce credit card fraud greatly – experts estimate that this system reduces fraud by up to 80%.
Each of these methods attempts to make payment using a credit card faster and safer. However, keep in mind that whatever the future of credit cards might hold, you should also do your bit to keep your card safe.
