For many nfc credit card scanners the goal is to extract the credit card account number and date of expiration. That you can "extract" the same information - if not more - by simply looking at the card is irrelevant. But what you cannot do by simply holding the card in your hand and looking at it is to generate an approval. And what some nfc credit card scanners may not realize is that after they have amazed their friends by extracting the account number, they can actually have the card generate an approval.
The approval is - as we say in the industry - "legit". If the nfc credit card scanner app was licensed to handle transactions, such an approval would result in an actual purchase. But it's just an app; so the only satisfaction is the knowledge that it can be done.
Vendme is an airport kiosk. Select an item, hold your credit card to the back of the kiosk and wait for your receipt. Similar to duty free sales done the way they were done in my time, if the transaction is approved, you receive the item once on the plane. Not all transactions are approved (for a number of reasons). The kiosk can operate in various modes, but the default is as an offline terminal only (similar, perhaps, to a metro ticket dispenser). Other modes support "going online", flagging blacklisted cards and tweaking an approval until it turns into a denial.
Approvals and denials are based on many factors. The processing terminal discusses these factors with the credit card. While many nfc credit card scanners end the discussion once the account number and date of expiration have been revealed, the discussion can continue until the terminal or the card decides what to do about the authorization request. Nowadays, most authorization decisions are made online by the card issuer, thus rendering offline terminals almost obsolete, but the process itself is still in place.
In addition to "printing" a receipt indicating the status of the transaction, a number of emv process-related data are shown. If these data are submitted to an online emv parser, the legitimacy of the status can be demonstrated. In other words, Vendme does not simply print "approved" or "denied" based on some virtual coin toss.
The approval is - as we say in the industry - "legit". If the nfc credit card scanner app was licensed to handle transactions, such an approval would result in an actual purchase. But it's just an app; so the only satisfaction is the knowledge that it can be done.
Vendme is an airport kiosk. Select an item, hold your credit card to the back of the kiosk and wait for your receipt. Similar to duty free sales done the way they were done in my time, if the transaction is approved, you receive the item once on the plane. Not all transactions are approved (for a number of reasons). The kiosk can operate in various modes, but the default is as an offline terminal only (similar, perhaps, to a metro ticket dispenser). Other modes support "going online", flagging blacklisted cards and tweaking an approval until it turns into a denial.
Approvals and denials are based on many factors. The processing terminal discusses these factors with the credit card. While many nfc credit card scanners end the discussion once the account number and date of expiration have been revealed, the discussion can continue until the terminal or the card decides what to do about the authorization request. Nowadays, most authorization decisions are made online by the card issuer, thus rendering offline terminals almost obsolete, but the process itself is still in place.
In addition to "printing" a receipt indicating the status of the transaction, a number of emv process-related data are shown. If these data are submitted to an online emv parser, the legitimacy of the status can be demonstrated. In other words, Vendme does not simply print "approved" or "denied" based on some virtual coin toss.
