Researchers from Swanson School of Engineering at Pittsburgh
University have created a new method to turn the contactless
capability of cards on and off.

The aim is to counteract the virtual pick pocketing that
involves the use of contactless technology.

The main risk in NFC payments lies in the fact
that the price of portable NFC readers has decreased to no
more than several hundred dollars, Marlin Mickle, professor of
engineering at Swanson School argued.

“Our design integrates an antenna and other
electrical circuitry that can be interrupted by a simple switch,
like turning off the lights in the home or office,” he said.

According to Mickle this solution is simple
and inexpensive to integrate into the RFID (radio frequency
identification) and NFC credit card manufacturing process.

They team of researchers have filed a patent
application and once approved they hope to see the technology
quickly adopted.