topic Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP in Credit Cards

The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sat, 30 May 2015 16:08:29 GMT

I got my dual-interface Amex BCP last week. I have not seen any photos of this card online, so I figured I would post it for informational purposes. Here you go:

Dual Interface American Express Blue Cash Preferred

The only other difference between the standar chip card is a little wireless symbol on the back of the EMV chip.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sat, 30 May 2015 16:02:03 GMT

I wish they would do this with more of their cards. How many attempts did it take to get one sent to you?

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sat, 30 May 2015 16:11:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I wish they would do this with more of their cards. How many attempts did it take to get one sent to you?

My first attempt through online chat was unsuccessful. The representative knew what I was talking about, and sent me a replacement. The reason for the replacement showed up online as "CONVERT TO C AND S+CONTACTLESS" which is correct, however the card that arrived was the standard chip version. The EMV chip on the card I got actually looked a little bit different than my original card, so I thought for a minute that it was the correct card. I searched online to try and find a photo to verify this, but couldn't. However, from descriptions I could tell it wasn't the right card. I called customer service, and the phone representative overnighted me the correct card. I think it's hit or miss when requesting this card, and you might need to do it multiple times.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sat, 30 May 2015 16:13:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I wish they would do this with more of their cards. How many attempts did it take to get one sent to you?
My first attempt through online chat was unsuccessful. The representative knew what I was talking about, and sent me a replacement. The reason for the replacement showed up online as "CONVERT TO C AND S+CONTACTLESS" which is correct, however the card that arrived was the standard chip version. The EMV chip on the card I got actually looked a little bit different than my original card, so I thought for a minute that it was the correct card. I searched online to try and find a photo to verify this, but couldn't. However, from descriptions I could tell it wasn't the right card. I called customer service, and the phone representative overnighted me the correct card. I think it's hit or miss when requesting this card, and you might need to do it multiple times.

Thank. I've read that quite a few people have had problems getting the right card delivered to them. Btw, second picture much better than the first :-)

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sat, 30 May 2015 17:20:32 GMT

I wish they offered it for their no FTF cards (like Delta). Any idea if that'll happen?

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 14:12:46 GMT

I just ordered mine through a phone call hoping its the contactless and they dont mess it up, i have a feeling they will though. Ill keep us updated

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Closingracer99 — Sun, 15 May 2016 14:25:32 GMT

What's exactly the point of these cards? Never heard of them until now

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 16:18:02 GMT

What is the difference between the card posted and my BCP I received in February this year?

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 16:39:55 GMT

This has the NFC Contactless chip inside of it. Essentially what Apple Pay and the other mobile wallet apps allow you to do, but it is embedded in the card, instead of having to link it to a phone. You can just tap your card on the NFC reader and it will accept it as payment

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 16:40:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
What is the difference between the card posted and my BCP I received in February this year?

This is a contactless card, yours isn't.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

iv — Sun, 15 May 2016 16:47:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
This has the NFC Contactless chip inside of it. Essentially what Apple Pay and the other mobile wallet apps allow you to do, but it is embedded in the card, instead of having to link it to a phone. You can just tap your card on the NFC reader and it will accept it as payment

Yeah but.... Apple Pay requires fingerprint unlock - these just require.... proximity.

I really don't understand why anybody would think that's a good idea, sorry.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 16:48:36 GMT

All cards offered by American Express Centurion Bank and FSB are available with Contactless as an option, but you do need to request conversion. If you find yourself having difficulties receiving the correct card, please do not hesitate to ask for a supervisor and we can ensure the right plastic is sent out.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 17:09:20 GMT

@iv wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
This has the NFC Contactless chip inside of it. Essentially what Apple Pay and the other mobile wallet apps allow you to do, but it is embedded in the card, instead of having to link it to a phone. You can just tap your card on the NFC reader and it will accept it as payment
Yeah but.... Apple Pay requires fingerprint unlock - these just require.... proximity.

I really don't understand why anybody would think that's a good idea, sorry.

The card has to be within 1-2 inches of the terminal to actually work, so I don't really think it's all that big of a deal--especially since we don't have to sign for <$50 anyway. Unfortunately this sentiment does seem to be common enough that most issuers aren't bothering.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 17:34:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@iv wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
This has the NFC Contactless chip inside of it. Essentially what Apple Pay and the other mobile wallet apps allow you to do, but it is embedded in the card, instead of having to link it to a phone. You can just tap your card on the NFC reader and it will accept it as payment
Yeah but.... Apple Pay requires fingerprint unlock - these just require.... proximity.

I really don't understand why anybody would think that's a good idea, sorry.

The card has to be within 1-2 inches of the terminal to actually work, so I don't really think it's all that big of a deal--especially since we don't have to sign for <$50 anyway. Unfortunately this sentiment does seem to be common enough that most issuers aren't bothering.

I agree, its just as easy to tap the card as it is to swipe it, so theres not difference in fraud there. I never understood why people thought these things were so unsafe, its just as prone to fraud as a regular magnetic strip only card. I can honestly say Ive never seen anyone going around with RFID readers trying to scann peoples back pockets before. You have to be really close to these things for them to read. I wish more issuers would get on board with it. I dont like paying with my phone

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

iv — Sun, 15 May 2016 17:49:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@iv wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
This has the NFC Contactless chip inside of it. Essentially what Apple Pay and the other mobile wallet apps allow you to do, but it is embedded in the card, instead of having to link it to a phone. You can just tap your card on the NFC reader and it will accept it as payment
Yeah but.... Apple Pay requires fingerprint unlock - these just require.... proximity.

I really don't understand why anybody would think that's a good idea, sorry.

The card has to be within 1-2 inches of the terminal to actually work, so I don't really think it's all that big of a deal--especially since we don't have to sign for <$50 anyway. Unfortunately this sentiment does seem to be common enough that most issuers aren't bothering.

Sure, a standard terminal has a 5cm range. That's great for avoiding accidental taps of cards in the wallet of the guy behind you in line.

Not so great for avoiding purpose-built devices... which are fairly easy/cheap to build (it's just 13.56MHz NFC), and can work at a range of several feet.

I'll grant you that most of the sentiment opposing NFC cards is ill-informed (see the massive numbers of "NFC-blocking" wallets, most of which don't work well or at all). But having cards that blindly transmit on interrogation is a terrible idea. Card tapping with MSD-over-NFC is the least-secure payment method available.

With NFC on smartphones, requiring user interaction (and not passing actual card numbers) makes it safer than swiping (and on-par with or better than dipping).

Now, if any US issuers have started shipping EMV-over-NFC cards... those are less of an issue than the more common (in the US) MSD-over-NFC. At least with EMV-over-NFC, the only real attack option in a MitM repeater attack. But all the cards I've previously seen in the US are MSD-over-NFC, and replay attacks were quite possible.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 18:07:07 GMT

@iv wrote:
Sure, a standard terminal has a 5cm range. That's great for avoiding accidental taps of cards in the wallet of the guy behind you in line.

Not so great for avoiding purpose-built devices... which are fairly easy/cheap to build (it's just 13.56MHz NFC), and can work at a range of several feet.

I'll grant you that most of the sentiment opposing NFC cards is ill-informed (see the massive numbers of "NFC-blocking" wallets, most of which don't work well or at all). But having cards that blindly transmit on interrogation is a terrible idea. Card tapping with MSD-over-NFC is the least-secure payment method available.

With NFC on smartphones, requiring user interaction (and not passing actual card numbers) makes it safer than swiping (and on-par with or better than dipping).

Now, if any US issuers have started shipping EMV-over-NFC cards... those are less of an issue than the more common (in the US) MSD-over-NFC. At least with EMV-over-NFC, the only real attack option in a MitM repeater attack. But all the cards I've previously seen in the US are MSD-over-NFC, and replay attacks were quite possible.

How often is that even happening? I'm going to bet not much because the cards are pretty rare anyway. It's also probably the case that whatever cards do exist use EMV contactless since it started disappearing from cards around the time EMV started being a thing. Again, probably nothing to worry about.

BTW, AmEx's contactless cards are EMV contactless--tapping them at Walgreens makes the chip's application identifier (AID) show up on the receipt. Ironically, Apple Pay with AmEx is not.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 18:25:33 GMT

Another point to stress, wouldnt the card issuers still be held responsible for any fraud that came from any kind of NFC thieving?

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 15 May 2016 18:55:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Another point to stress, wouldnt the card issuers still be held responsible for any fraud that came from any kind of NFC thieving?

This too. They even say so when talking about Apple Pay.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

Discover2016 — Sun, 15 May 2016 19:59:35 GMT

Nice, I have the dual interface on my BCE and Amex Green.

Re: The Dual-Interface Amex BCP

iv — Sun, 15 May 2016 22:04:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
How often is that even happening? I'm going to bet not much because the cards are pretty rare anyway. It's also probably the case that whatever cards do exist use EMV contactless since it started disappearing from cards around the time EMV started being a thing. Again, probably nothing to worry about.

BTW, AmEx's contactless cards are EMV contactless--tapping them at Walgreens makes the chip's application identifier (AID) show up on the receipt. Ironically, Apple Pay with AmEx is not.

Sure, it's not happening in practice except for research and demos... since as you said, they are very rare today.

But I can remember people telling me 20 years ago that magstripes were perfectly safe, "nothing to worry about"! Yeah, they could be "technically" copied, but it was "hard to get the equipment", and "too much effort"....

Yeah. Because no money has been lost to skimmers in the last 20 years.... Oh. Wait.

It's good to know that the newer Amex's are shipping with EMV contactless - that is at least far more secure than the older standard. At least it stops mass-collection of card data for later use.

But unless timing-based anti-repeater detection is added to the readers, targeted MitM is still possible. And once magstripe finally dies off, contactless will be THE low-hanging fruit for attackers.