I heard a story from a friend who got some mysterious charges on his credit card from SEPTA, the Philadelphia transit system. He claims both his bank, PNC, and a SEPTA rep told him that if he keeps his SEPTA transit card next to his credit card in his wallet, the transit card can somehow magically absorb information from the credit card and make unauthorized charges. I think this sounds crazy and probably a misunderstanding, but he insists it's true and that others have experienced it too. The SEPTA card is a newer contactless card, and I'm curious—can a transit card really pull data from a credit card like that, or is it just complete nonsense?
3 Answers
There's no way that a SEPTA card can just absorb info like that. Maybe the cards were next to each other and he tapped them both, or something similar. But as far as I know, there's no automatic data transfer happening. I'd recommend he look into the auto-recharge settings on his SEPTA account; he might be making charges without realizing it.
That sounds absolutely ridiculous! I bet he's just tapping his entire wallet without removing the SEPTA card or holding it too close to a reader. Those machines can accept regular credit and debit cards just fine without some 'magical' interaction.
Exactly! It’s probably a case of him accidentally using one card instead of the other. Also, if he thinks the charges correlate to days he didn't travel, maybe there are charges from earlier that just processed late. But he's so convinced by what the reps said! Can't believe he's stirring everyone up over this.
This whole story is just BS. For one card to 'absorb' data from another, they need to be powered and encrypted properly or something like that. It's not possible unless someone has some seriously advanced tech. I’ve been in the industry and can tell you that contactless cards require specific conditions to communicate—it's definitely not as simple as they claim. Just seems like a misunderstanding on their part.
Right! The idea of a card stealing someone’s data without physical hacking or being powered up is just wrong. Also, what if he actually got his card skimmed elsewhere and is just looking for a scapegoat?
Yeah, he should check if his credit card is linked to his SEPTA ID for auto-reloads. Or he might have accidentally used his credit card at a tap point. It sounds far more likely than any wild theory about cards absorbing info.