How does RFID protection work?

Skimming, digital pickpocketing and contactless robbing, these are terms you hear frequently in recent years. You regularly read reports in the newspaper or on the news of people whose wallets have been robbed without their knowledge.

Whereas the thieves' guild used to take to the streets to loot your wallet unnoticed, today things are very different. With the rise of contactless payments and paying with your mobile phone, criminals have come up with clever ways to plunder your account unnoticed. In this blog, you will read all about RFID protection, how digital pickpocketing works, how we have incorporated RFID protection into our products and, further on in this blog, we will share four important tips on how to prevent digital pickpocketing.

How does digital pickpocketing actually work?

We obviously know a lot more about leather bags and accessories than we do about digital pickpocketing. Thankfully. Nevertheless, we want to briefly show you how childishly easy criminals are able to loot money. You are most vulnerable when you keep (payment) cards loose in your jacket or trouser pocket. Criminals can withdraw money from your account with a portable ATM by standing close to you with the ATM. In a crowded metro, tram or bus, this is a piece of cake. Although the amounts involved are relatively small (large amounts require you to enter your PIN), it is still a waste of your hard-earned pennies! Preventing all this misery is fortunately very simple. Keep your debit cards in an RFID wallet.

How does RFID protection work?

Virtually all your cards contain an RFID chip. This chip allows you to pay contactless. Super convenient, of course. When contactless payment was introduced, various bodies such as the consumer association and various banks already warned about a new phenomenon: digital pickpocketing.

Soon you saw the first wallets and cases with aluminium foil around them. Aluminium foil blocks radiation and thus prevents contactless payments. The first metal cases with RFID protection soon appeared on the market. Not very much later, the first wallet with RFID protection went over the counter. By now, the development of RFID protection had reached the point where it could be incorporated into wallets using a foil. When we launched our brand in 2013, we decided to be one of the first brands to add RFID protection to our entire range of leather wallets.

Our tips:

• Want to prevent criminals from taking money from your account undisturbed? Then make sure you store your debit card in an RFID wallet! Is there no RFID logo on your wallet or card holder? Then it probably does not have RFID protection either.
• Always shield your PIN properly. Once criminals have your PIN, they are also able to digitally roll over larger sums of money.
• Do you still have doubts about the safety of contactless payments? Then disable contactless payment. This can usually be done via the banking app on your phone.
• This is quite a rigorous measure. You can also lower the daily limit for debit card payments. That way, you limit the damage if you do get caught out once.