Another Way to Pay Safely

We all remember the Great Target Credit Card Hack of 2013. 29% of Americans had their information compromised and since then tech companies around the world have been working to safely pay using a credit card.

The most recent way? SafePay, the first antifraud system to use existing credit card readers. According to Science Daily, here's how it works: First, the user downloads and executes the mobile banking application which communicates with the bank server. During transactions, the mobile application acquires disposable credit card numbers from the bank server, generates an audio wave file, plays the file to generate electrical current, and then drives the magnetic card chip via an audio jack or Bluetooth. It looks like a wonky aux cord with a chip and a credit card number at the end instead of a fire mixtape.

Prototype of the SafePay system. In the final product, the round disk and the chip would be combined into one chip that would slide through the magnetic card reader. 

It works so well because of three things:

1. It uses disposable credit card numbers that expire after a certain amount of time or usage. If your credit card information gets stolen, it's okay because the number is already non-usable, like an expired credit card. 
2. The magnetic chip is competely compatible with current card readers, making it inexpensive to implement. The chips themselves only cost about fifty cents to make right now, and that price would go down with mass production. 
3. The mobile banking process is user friendly. 

The creators of this chip, Yinzhi Cao, Xiang Pan, and Yan Chen tested the system at various coffee shops and stores, and every time the chip worked. While the direction of credit card payments is currently headed toward chips in the cards, this could be the next step to credit card safety!