How contactless payments are secured

The Dutch Consumers’ Association reported that banks did not always explain correctly whether and when a debit card had to be inserted into the payment terminal for a contactless payment. The security measures for contactless debit card payments are set out below.

• Contactless payment with a contactless debit card is only possible at a contactless payment terminal. Contactless debit cards and terminals can be identified by the special contactless payment symbol shown above, which resembles a Wi-Fi symbol.
• Contactless pickpocketing had never occurred in the Netherlands. Should it happen, your bank will reimburse all losses.

Read the latest information about the security of contactless payments on PIN.NL (in Dutch).

Limits

• For amounts above €25, the PIN must always be entered. Make sure you shield the keypad.
• For amounts up to and including €25, a PIN is usually not required, so nobody else can see it being entered.
• If you make several consecutive contactless payments for small amounts without a PIN and their combined value exceeds €50, you must insert the debit card into the terminal and enter the PIN. This limit applies indefinitely, even if the payments without a PIN are spread over several days.
• In most cases, you therefore do not need to insert the debit card into the payment terminal, even for larger amounts above €25 or €50.
• Some banks set daily limits for contactless payments. For example, if you make contactless payments totalling more than €250 in one day, you may have to insert the debit card into the terminal and enter your PIN. Daily limits can vary by bank and can sometimes be set by cardholders themselves through internet or mobile banking.

Other restrictions

• A contactless payment is only possible when the debit card is held less than five centimetres from the payment terminal.
• If a contactless debit card is stored together with other contactless cards, such as a public transport card, access card or another contactless debit card, it is highly unlikely that an unnoticed contactless payment can be made. The payment terminal cannot process all the signals from the different contactless cards.
• Shield your PIN carefully when entering it and always store your debit card securely. Do not put it in a back pocket, breast pocket, coat pocket, open bag or an outside pocket of a bag.
• After a PIN has been entered on a working payment terminal or ATM, it cannot be read from the keypad using a compact, inconspicuous infrared camera. The electronics beneath the keypad emit so much heat that all keys light up brightly in an infrared image, making individual keystrokes impossible to distinguish.
• As soon as you report your debit card stolen or lost to your bank, nobody else can use it to make payments, whether contactlessly or with a PIN.

High risk of being caught

• A contactless payment terminal can only be obtained and used if the applicant is registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and has a payment account. Payments are credited to that account no earlier than the next working day. The risk of being caught when misusing a terminal is therefore high.