Add Apple to the list of companies that’s getting involved with payments. But they’re hoping their version will be more secure than your average transaction.
People who own an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus can now use their phone at contactless pay terminals instead of swiping a credit card. Apple and some security experts say your data is much more protected using the new system.
“Most of the time when you use a credit card, there’s a lot of hands in the pot. You as a consumer, the credit card, the company who issued it. The merchant you’re shopping at, the bank and maybe another 3rd party there depending on who they outsource to,” said Kerstyn Clover of SecureState, an information security company.
Since your card number is transmitted through so many different places, each stop is a place where your data could be stored and potentially stolen.
“A change with a lot of these mobile wallets is that a lot of that will be stored pretty much with one company,” said Clover.
“Your number isn’t being touched by four other companies. So that lessens the attack vector because there aren’t four people that you have to trust with all of your data now.”
With Apple pay, your card number is never given to a merchant. Instead, they use a unique device number, or token, that is stored on your device in a chip Apple calls the Secure Element. That stored token only works if it comes from your iPhone using your fingerprint.
“So your credit card number is not changing as many hands. Your credit card number is not being stored. It’s not getting sent out through other people’s networks.”
Is it really safer than swiping your card? Clover believes any payment process that doesn’t involve your credit card number is probably a better option.
“Tokenization, EMV, Apple Pay, Google Wallet — things like that are moving in a direction to make it more secure,” according to Clover.
But she also warned that every secure system can be broken. So it’s important that Apple Pay users continue to monitor their accounts.
“Keep an eye on your credit score, your reports, your bank statements, some of that responsibility is on you as a consumer.”