There are reports that the wallets may not be as effective, as advertised…
3 Likes
One of the things you need to keep in mind is that RF (radio frequency) shielding isn’t an all or nothing proposition. It’s all about attenuation - i.e. how much the signal strength is reduced, which normally translates to effective distance.
The signal coming from a car key fob will be a lot stronger than the signal from an RFID tag, credit card or whatever because the car key fob has a battery and will emit a much higher power signal, whereas the RFID device relies on sufficient power reaching it and then any transmitted signal making it back through the shielding.
The real test you want to do is put your credit card in the pouch and check whether that works over the reader at the supermarket, etc.
4 Likes
I imagine that many consumers would have more than one RFID enabled credit and debit cards in one’s purse/wallet…and from what I understand that even if it was an issue, it would not be possible to differentiate the signal from multiple cards.
2 Likes
Not entirely. e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification#Bulk_reading
https://www.rfidjournal.com/blogs/experts/entry?9271
I don’t know what type and capability RFID is in a credit card however.
2 Likes
Over the last 18 months I have tried several different approaches to this problem.
It is possible to make your own faraday pouch using several layers of tin foil, but sadly durability and signal leakage prevention is an issue.
Having purchased a number of signal blocking pouches on eBay and another brand from the US, there are some common observations:
-
many of the cheap pouches stated in Clubman’s link can be purchased on eBay but their downfall is that the pouches literally fall apart after several months of use and the insulating material is the weakest on a material fold. In fact many of the cheap pouches are made in the same factory and quite useless after a few weeks.
-
more durable pouches have 2 layers of protection and weekly testing confirms that they are worth their money in gold.
If anyone has a concern with NFC on their phones then simply turn off the feature and refuse to use Apple / Google Pay … it is as simple as that.
5 Likes
I have used thin lead sheet (plastic coated) with credit/debit cards and have not been able to use tap and go machines. I don’t know if they are typical of all RFID readers.
2 Likes
The reason its called tap’n’go well good luck getting the terminals to read the card wafting it even a small distance away.
People that make these simply feeding peoples unfounded fears for a $ 
2 Likes
