Contactless Payments Demystified

EMV contactless payments

EMV contactless payments and magnetic stripe contactless payments are both based on the near-field contact (NFC) technology. That is why sometimes we call them NFC payments. The primary difference is as follows. Magnetic stripe contactless payment is similar to an ordinary card swipe: the payment terminal scans card data (number, cardholder name, expiry date) and communicate further along the line. EMV contactless cards and payments also have much in common with standard (contact) EMV technology: data exchange between the terminal and the contactless card is performed through a chip.

EMV contactless payments do impose several limitations related to technology and security. However, they allow you to simplify the certification process significantly. More information on contactless payment processing is available in the respective article on Paylosophy