Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

As contactless payment devices become more adopted by consumers, retailers need to be ready to handle them and, rightly or wrongly, take the blame for associated problems. Popgadget just did a fascinating look at Citibank’s latest RFID PayPass card. It references a Gearlog post about the pros and cons of such a device, along with a hacker’s take on contactless card security.

Little of this is new, as we reported a year ago Shell Canada’s experiments about contactess payment security. But as these cards start to come into common usage, it’s not a bad idea to look at the latest threats and be prepared to deal with the complaints. Trust me: they’ll come. It’s still worth doing, but the easier a system is to use, the more problematic its security profile will be.