New 'SafePay' method to prevent credit card fraud

Researchers have developed a novel technique called 'SafePay' which is a secure method to prevent mass credit card fraud using existing magnetic card readers. Lead researcher Yinzhi Cao of the Lehigh University said that because 'SafePay' was backward compatible with existing magnetic card readers, it would greatly relieve the burden of merchants in replacing card readers and at the same time protect cardholders from mass data breaches.

In order to use 'SafePay,' the user needs to download and execute the mobile banking application which communicates with the bank server. During transactions, the mobile application acquires disposable credit card numbers from the bank server, generates a wave file, plays the file to generate electrical current, and then drives the magnetic card chip via an audio jack or Bluetooth. What makes the 'SafePay' method unique is that it disposes credit card information that expires after a limited time or number of usages. So, even if the information is leaked, it cannot be used for future transactions.

It has a magnetic credit card chip that makes it completely compatible with existing readers and also a mobile banking application that automates the process making it extremely user-friendly. Cao and his colleagues conducted real-world experiments with the 'SafePay' technology, in all the experiments the method worked and the transactions were successful.