“ID will help cut down fraud if someone lost his or her smartphone.”One of the advantages of using Apple Paysince it was launched in 2014 is paying, making purchase without the need to show any means of identification.
But a lawmaker from Missouri, Rep. Joshua Peters of St. Louis D wants that changed with the legislation that would require Apple Pay users to show a driver’s license or any other form of government ID when using mobile payment platforms like Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
Why?
Peters believed that presenting means of ID would prevent thieves from using a stole smartphone compatible with apple pay. According to him, “ID will help cut down fraud if someone lost his or her smartphone.”
He is also proposing that a merchant should be held liable for a purchase made through a stolen device that has earlier been reported.
Peters’ position is aimed at protecting mobile payments users, but he needs to fully understand how apple pay works, and its security features.
We understand that hackers will be having dubious sleepless nights on how to break the security walls of apple pay. But for now if an iPhone is stolen, the rightful owner of the device could use the Find My phone service imbedded therein to disable it. Using the Find My Phone Service would bar the thief from making transaction with it.
“And even if a stolen iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus wasn’t nuked OTA via Find My iPhone, the thief still wouldn’t be able to use Apple Pay because they would need the original owner’s fingerprint in order to complete the transaction,” Brandon Hill of hot hardware.com writes
Though security and financial experts have weighed the challenges mobile payments are likely to face. That has doesn’t call for the kind of legislation Peters is calling for.
