Cybercriminals seem to have found a way into Apple Pay despite the company boasting of its ultra-secure credentials. The problem is being linked to individual bank’s credit card verification processes. Apple doesn’t seem to be able to control how bank verify credit cards used on Apple Pay, with experts saying that 6% of Apple Pay transactions are fraudulent as opposed to 0.1% of swipe-based transactions.
Fraud rates vary significantly from bank-to-bank and are largely influenced by the security protocols used by each organisation.
An Apple spokesperson defended their employer, saying that Apple Pay was designed to be extremely secure and protect a user’s personal information. They also said “banks are always reviewing and improving their approval process, which varies by bank.”
Apple is only able to control the interface where users input card information and has no influence over the security processes that identify whether a card is valid or not. Fraudsters are only able to exploit vulnerabilities in Apple Pay when cards are added to the service. Experts say that criminals are taking advantage of the system by using stolen information including social security numbers. It’s thought that banks are looking at their security processes as we speak.