Monica Eaton Says New Payment Methods Will Create New Challenges
Monica was asked to contribute to a recent feature on Valuewalk, discussing the growing threat of contactless payment abuse as more and more consumers migrate to remote channels.
ValueWalk provides widely-read and cited investment news and coverage. Their beat includes hedge funds, asset management, value investing, and much more. The site analyzes business, politics, and tech trends, and how they might impact investors’ portfolios.
Contactless payments have been a fast-growing payment method over the last several years. However, widespread adoption has accelerated considerably since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. According to Visa, the contactless payment volume has more than doubled compared to just one year ago.
While much of this is directly connected to COVID-19, many buyers who embrace contactless payments will stick with the technology even after the crisis passes. This creates potential vulnerabilities, though, as any new technology carries the potential for abuse. Fraudsters will undoubtedly look for a way to manipulate the technology to steal from consumers and businesses.
“As contactless transaction limits go up, we know from years of experience that fraud will go up as well,” Monica explains. “We urge consumers to be aware of their account activity, and merchants to keep a close eye out for unusual chargebacks, which may indicate that a contactless-payment account has been compromised.”