Apple has promised that their payment method is safer than traditional credit or debit cards, but what exactly makes Apple Pay safer? Well, the problem with cards is that their most sensitive information is displayed for all to see. By snapping a couple photos, thieves can capture the card’s number, expiration date, and security code and use it to make purchases.

Apple Pay

Apple has promised that their payment method is safer than traditional credit or debit cards, but what exactly makes Apple Pay safer? Well, the problem with cards is that their most sensitive information is displayed for all to see. By snapping a couple photos, thief’s can capture the card’s number, expiration date, and security code and use it to make purchases .A risk you take every time time you hand your card over to a merchant.

Safety of Apple Pay

Apple Pay eliminates this risk by preventing merchants from seeing a card’s sensitive information. Instead, Apple shares your device account number and a transaction-specific security code to the store’s point of sale terminal. That way, the payment can be verified by your bank or card issuer without ever revealing sensitive information to the merchant. This also works for purchases in apps or on websites. Which prevents another common security risk, data leaks.

When using a card on a website, they often store the information on their servers whether you want them to or not. This means you’re trusting that company to protect your sensitive information from data leaks and hackers. But as you may’ve heard before, some of the largest companies experience internal errors or vulnerabilities that exposes customer information to criminals. Including their credit card numbers. But because Apple Pay never allows merchants access to this information, your risk of exposure is reduced dramatically.

Credit Card Skimming

Finally, credit card skimming has become a common threat to customers over the last decade. Where thieves will install a fake payment terminal on top of a legitimate one. This tricks customers into swiping their card without realizing its information and pin number have been compromised. Apple Pay eliminates this risk by removing physical cards from the payment process and opting instead for wireless near-field communication.

The only problem with Apple Pay, is not all merchants accept it. This includes Kroger and Walmart, two of the largest US retailers. So, until customers have confidence that they can use Apple Pay anywhere. The security risks of traditional credit and debit cards will continue.