Pop quiz: Can you rattle off the number of your favorite credit card? Extra credit: What about the customer identification number on the back of the same card? That second three- or four-digit code has been known to trip up even the greatest credit card connoisseurs on occasion, but that’s sort of the point, as it’s a main line of defense in fraud prevention. To make things even trickier, French company Oberthur Technologies, a leading provider of embedded digital security products, has developed a new type of credit card where the answer to the dreaded “And what’s the security code on the back of your card?” question will change every hour.
As a matter of fact, I book enough travel online that I have not only my credit card details memorized, but also my passport information. But, this technology seems like a simple way to protect against fraud.
Even if your credit card details were swiped in a successful hack, and who’s hasn’t been, the hacked details will be outdated. That’s not a bad way to lessen the damage from these sort of intrusions.
On the other hand, as the article points out, it would also require you to carry your credit card with you instead of using a digital wallet, or Apple Pay type of solution too, so we’ll see how far it goes.
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