Swamp Geek - Cybersecurity Awareness Tip 23: Use Digital Payments Instead of Swiping Your Cre

Cybersecurity Awareness Tip 23: Use Digital Payments Instead of Swiping Your Credit Card

Most credit card fraud occurs, or at least originates, offline, but you can use online tools to help there, too. Specifically, digital payments via a mobile wallet that offers tokenization to secure credit card transactions by providing secure tokens to retailers, instead of the credit card information. These secure tokens can be limited to the specific transaction or vendor, eliminating the possibility of fraudulent use. As the credit card industry moves away from magnetic stripes, many retailers are beginning to accept digital payments. Gas stations - the last holdouts for magnetic stripe credit cards - are accepting digital payments via mobile wallets or their own branded mobile apps.

Use the Digital Wallet Available on Your Phone

The major digital wallets and many retailer mobile apps use tokenization, so from a security perspective, they are virtually identical. But digital wallets can't be used on all phones, at least not yet. South Korea recently enacted legislation to require Apple and Google to allow other payment systems (like South Korea's Samsung Pay). Samsung initially offered rewards for using Samsung Pay, but terminated this unique feature on December 31, 2020. For now, use the digital wallet available on your phone:

Apple Pay only works on iPhones and Apple watches.
Google Pay only works on Android phones and smartwatches.
Samsung Pay only works on Samsung phones and Samsung smart watches, both of which can also use Google Pay.

Use the Digital Wallet Available on Your Phone

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