Towards an Era of Quantum Security, MasterCard Launches Quantum-Resistant Contactless Payment Card

Financial services giant Mastercard has developed a new contactless card that incorporates quantum cryptography designed to prevent hacking attacks from current classical computers and future quantum computers [1].

01Ongoing collaboration with EMVCo

MasterCard has long been exploring the potential impact of quantum computing and launched its quantum-enhanced contactless-resistant specification in January 2021 [2]. Since then, the company has been working with financial industry technology organization EMVCo to help evolve the innovation into an industry standard for contactless acceptance, providing the best protection for industry, businesses and consumers while offering the same speed and convenience as today's contactless payment experience [3].

The new card release is designed to work with all existing terminals and comes with a quantum encryption algorithm to protect transactions. It uses EMVCo's recently disclosed standard, the EMV Contactless Kernel Specification: a specification that works with all existing payment terminals while also providing a higher level of security. Key features of the new specification include a secure channel for privacy protection, protection against eavesdropping and protection of sensitive data from man-in-the-middle and relay attacks. It also includes elliptic curve cryptography for authentication, as well as support for biometric and mobile authentication methods.

MasterCard said its new card is "a major milestone in bringing quantum-age security and privacy protection to contactless payments. According to the payer, it will be equipped with next-generation algorithms and encryption keys and is designed to be fast, ensuring that contactless payments are made in less than half a second, while enhancing privacy protections and reducing the amount of account information shared between consumer devices and merchant terminals.

02The card will be officially issued in 23 years, and transactions are expected to exceed $10 trillion

When quantum computing technology reaches "quantum superiority," quantum machines will be able to run near-error-free calculations that are impossible with classical computers, which will also make current cryptographic solutions vulnerable to cracking, meaning that specific quantum security will be required: experts expect this to be achieved by 2025-2027. As a result, more than 12.5 billion contactless payment devices are expected to be in use by 2027, and transactions using these devices will exceed $10 trillion worldwide.

MasterCard said the new cards are designed to remain compatible with existing acceptance, network and issuer infrastructure available from Jet and Thales [4]; MasterCard will also continue to work with card manufacturers and with customers to set the pace for the transition to these new cards in 2023 and beyond. Ajay Bhalla, president of network and intelligence at MasterCard, said the goal is to ensure "a seamless transition from today's contactless experience" as quantum computers become more prevalent. "Technology has the potential to open up new opportunities for consumers and fraudsters alike, which is why future-proofing security is critical."

Reference links：

[1]https://techmonitor.ai/technology/emerging-technology/mastercard-quantum-computer-cryptography

[2]https://www.mastercard.com/news/press/2021/january/mastercard-evolves-contactless-technology-for-quantum-world/

[3]https://finchannel.com/mastercard-and-partners-deliver-first-contactless-cards-for-quantum-world/

[4]https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/41105/mastercard-to-issue-quantum-resistant-contectless-cards