Because every single csrd in my wallet no longer has its chip read (get an error when inserting) and have to use the tap to pay system instead.
I have had this happen way back when I first got a bank account as a teen, before the chip, because I got too close to an electro magnet; but that was when they only had the magnetic strip. AFAIK the chip is just a chip.
So how/why are all my cards fucked up at the same time? 🤨
They’re NFC chips, so it can still be affected by a variable magnetic field.
Isn’t the NFC part the tap and pay thing?
So, it’s been a month, but since nobody answered: It stands for Near Field Communication, so both the card chip and the reader are/use NFC.
Unless you put your wallet in the microwave, it’s probably not that. Did it turn out to be a problem with your bank/credit card companies in the end?
abrasive rubbing on the contacts of all the cards? It is probably mechanical if the NFC still works.
There are marks on some of them, so that was my first thought. I do keep my wallet in my back pocket, so I am sitting on it whenever I sit down.
are you using a standard wallet? you should either have an nfc blocking wallet or have all your cards with nfc in blocking sleeves.
That’ll do it, not to mention the act of it rubbing every time you put it in and pull it out, especially if it’s pretty full.
Tap and pay uses the NFC coil for communication with the payment device. Inserting the card uses the contact pads on the surface of the card to do the same thing. If the coil is working but the contacts aren’t you are probably looking at something interfering with the actual contact with the pads.
A few options spring to mind but we have the complicating factor of multiple cards being impacted at the same time. If it had impacted only one card I would ask if you perhaps had something like hand lotion or grease that could have gotten onto the card surface, but given multiple cards are impacted I would consider corrosion a possibility. If your wallet is in a sweaty place the moisture can corrode the surface and make it nonconductive, stopping it from working when inserted.
To test and fix this try rubbing the contacts with a clean, dry cloth vigorously. You want to basically polish the contacts and see a change in colour, back to the usual gold surface you had when you got the card. Hopefully that is all you need.
