Australian police call for strict limits on 'tap-and-go' credit card transactions

Australian police are calling for strict limits on 'tap-and-go' credit card transactions as the rate of deception crimes skyrockets.

Using tap-and-go, credit card holders can simply tap their card to complete purchases less than 100 dollars without having to enter a PIN (personal identification number) or sign a receipt.

The technology was designed to make completing transactions quicker and easier for both consumers and businesses.

However, Victoria Police is calling for strict limits on the amount of times the function can be used per day in order to preserve credit card security.

There are approximately 1000 more cases of deception offences every month in Victoria than before the technology was introduced.

Under the proposal card holders would be limited to three tap-and-go transactions per day, with every subsequent purchase requiring a PIN.

Senior Victoria Police officers say that the proposal would stop thieves from using tap-and-go on a stolen card unimpeded until the card was cancelled by the victim.

Superintendent Pat Boyle, Victoria's leading fraud investigator, said a similar limit was already in place in the United Kingdom.

"There probably need to be stronger mitigation strategies to make it less inviting to steal," Boyle told News Limited on Friday.

"It's a fantastic product but it could have better security."

The rate of deception offences has gone up 60 per cent in three years in Victoria, with police saying that the record number of thefts from cars per year cal also be partly attributed to thieves looking for bank cards.

Australians have the highest rate of tap-and-go use in the world and Boyle said too many victims were contributing to their loss by leaving their cards in cars or on display in public.

"You're just placing temptation in their way," he said. Endit