Researchers in the UK have demonstrated how hackers could steal money from your Visa card using Apple Pay Express Transit mode. This mode allows your card to be accessed without having to use Face ID or your passcode and is designed to allow users to effortlessly pass through transit gates, such as those on the London Underground and the New York City subway, which allow contactless pay via a credit card.
Apple Pay has been considered to be resilient to hackers, as it uses a token account number for purchases rather than your actual credit card number and requires your Face ID on an iPhone to pay, or a double tap on an Apple Watch. The Express Transit mode allows the iPhone to bypass this second phase of security by broadcasting a signal to the iPhone.
By replicating that signal, the researchers were able to obtain the card data to make payments on regular contactless card machines. They were also able to bypass the low payment limit set for contactless payment. However, this was only possible when a Visa card was tied to the Express Transit account – when a Mastercard was used, it didn’t work. It also didn't work when using a Visa card on a Samsung phone.
- Best cheap Apple TV sales, deals and prices for September 2021
- iPhone 13 review: a phone for everyone
- iPhone 13 Pro Max review: the ultimate iPhone
The research is summarized on a new website, which explains the findings of the test. It advises iPhone users to 'not use Visa as a transport card in Apple Pay.' It also states that 'if your iPhone is lost or stolen, activate the Lost Mode on your iPhone, and call your bank to block your card.'
There is good news though. Firstly, even if you have a Visa card on your Apple Pay, you need to manually activate the Express Transit mode for this to be possible – it’s turned off by default. The second is that this danger is theoretical and hasn’t been happening in the real world (as far as we know).
Also, now that this information is widely known, we can expect a solution to stop this happening – either from Visa or from Apple. And in the meantime, Visa offers zero-liability protection for any unauthorized payments.
How to turn off Express Transit mode
If you want to make sure your card can’t be accessed, on your iPhone, go to Settings>Wallet & Apple Pay and click on your Visa card. In the card information you will see an option for Express Transit. Click this and select None.
-
I must admit, if the iPhone 17 Air is this thin I'd never stop worryingNewly leaked images show an iPhone that's so slim I'd be concerned about breaking it
-
Apple's new content curation service is about as Apple as it getsThe new Snapshot section is very pretty, but it's also missing something pretty important
-
Samsung's flagship phones will reportedly maintain one key advantage over iPhoneApple is said to be struggling to match Samsung in a specific tech area
-
New Apple Vision Pro tipped for early 2026, but might not be what you expectThe second generation Vision Pro may not be the game-changing model you're hoping for
-
If the iPhone 17 Pro adds these 4 new features I'm already soldApple needs to make a big swing
-
Apple's Severance computer may have been a joke, but the keyboard is coming for realTell us where we can sign up!
-
Apple Watch is set to get Apple Intelligence this year, but only with a little help from a friendBring on watchOS 12
-
iPad reportedly getting major makeover and your current model could benefit tooApple is said to be making a change that iPad power users have been wanting for years
