3 ms·

Pretty sure NFC transactions are "offline", i.e. the round trip to the bank happens after the card has left the reader.

Jaruzel 9y ago
This is correct. Which is why there is a low 'floor limit' on NFC/Contactless payments. Your card is not actually authorised at point of transaction.
- ahakki 9y ago
  Just from my personal experiance in Switzerland I think this is mostly the case, but not always. I have a contactless Visa with a rather low limit that I use for small day to day purchases. I only use it contactless and most of the time I can go over the monthly limit if I only use it contactless. Sometimes if I do this it will still be declined by a shop due to «insufficient funds», so some contactless terminals must be calling home. At this point the Card stops working at any terminal, even the contactless kind. I have to wait for the next month and use it the Chip and Pin way once to make it work again.
- occamrazor 9y ago
  From experience in two European countries, this is not always the case. I have both a Visa and MC cards which can be used in contactless mode for transactions of any size, up to the card limit. For low amounts (<40EUR) the PIN is not requested. For larger transactions I have to enter the PIN, but I don't need the chip.
  - Jaruzel 9y ago
    In the UK, Contactless is PIN free, hence the low floor limit. Anything over that amount (£30 typically) requires Chip+PIN, and remote authentication.
kennydude 9y ago
Sometimes. Paying for the bus for me is offline, whereas in a supermarket it's processed online
PeterisP 9y ago
Often the round trip to the bank happens after the card has left the reader but before the txn is authorised (i.e. the device prints a receipt, customer gets the product or service), that's still an online transaction.
jonknee 9y ago
That's probably optional, I usually get an Amex push notification from NFC transactions right after they occur (before I have time to put my phone back in my pocket).

This is correct. Which is why there is a low 'floor limit' on NFC/Contactless payments. Your card is not actually authorised at point of transaction.

ahakki 9y ago
Just from my personal experiance in Switzerland I think this is mostly the case, but not always. I have a contactless Visa with a rather low limit that I use for small day to day purchases. I only use it contactless and most of the time I can go over the monthly limit if I only use it contactless. Sometimes if I do this it will still be declined by a shop due to «insufficient funds», so some contactless terminals must be calling home. At this point the Card stops working at any terminal, even the contactless kind. I have to wait for the next month and use it the Chip and Pin way once to make it work again.
occamrazor 9y ago
From experience in two European countries, this is not always the case. I have both a Visa and MC cards which can be used in contactless mode for transactions of any size, up to the card limit. For low amounts (<40EUR) the PIN is not requested. For larger transactions I have to enter the PIN, but I don't need the chip.
- Jaruzel 9y ago
  In the UK, Contactless is PIN free, hence the low floor limit. Anything over that amount (£30 typically) requires Chip+PIN, and remote authentication.

kennydude 9y ago

Sometimes. Paying for the bus for me is offline, whereas in a supermarket it's processed online

PeterisP 9y ago

Often the round trip to the bank happens after the card has left the reader but before the txn is authorised (i.e. the device prints a receipt, customer gets the product or service), that's still an online transaction.

jonknee 9y ago

That's probably optional, I usually get an Amex push notification from NFC transactions right after they occur (before I have time to put my phone back in my pocket).