RFID safe money belt worth it?

I wear a pouch around my neck to carry my cards. How is someone going to scan it without our becoming good friends?

Some scanners can read your card from several feet away.

It really depends on your comfort level - worst case your card gets scanned and its a PITA to replace it.

The only type of cards that can be scanned at any distance are the RFID cards that you can wave at a sensor on a gas pump, etc. The standard magnitic strip card can not be read without close contact. Leave the RFID cards home, if you have any, and forget the RFID money belts. A waste of money.

The RFID protection money belts, and the RFID protection inserts for wallets, and the RFID protection wallets are an absolute wonderful, fabulous invention - - - for the manufacturer and the sellers. What better than to invent a solution to a problem which doesn't exist, then manufacture all the fear to convince loads of people that they all need to line up and buy it. Fab.

I'm with George on this. The entire premise of the OP's question is probably incorrect. Not intended as a criticism of the OP, just that she is mis-informed and almost went and spent money on something that would have solved a problem that she didn't even have.

Regular credit cards cannot be "scanned." But the numbers can be stolen or the data accessed by skimmers on card readers or malware on a merchant's software (Target). One can try and be cautious with who and how they give their card to, but the reality is that sometimes your card is compromised. You are NOT legally responsible for more than $50 if you report it and almost all banks waive any fee and usually catch fraud long before you do.

So just notify your banks of your travel plans and try to have a backup card with you in the rare case that your regular card is compromised. And try not to use a debit card for purchases (just use it for cash at ATMs).

The RFID billfords, passport holders, etc., is almost a scam before you get started. For some time I have posting similar responses as to George's without the good backup of the article. Classic case of marketing hype for a product of marginal or no value. Mariadenouden, save your money for more important things.

"Just to reiterate you cannot have your card scanned whilst it is your purse."

Actually, that's very easily done if the card contains an RFID chip, as seen in THIS video or THIS video. It's not necessary to have physical contact with the card, but only to get a Reader close to it. The card will transmit card number, expiration date and other information when it's "polled" by the Reader, which is what happens when it's used with a POS terminal.

All of my credit cards have all three technologies - magnetic strip, Chip & PIN and RFID. Apparently the RFID chip will be added to my debit / ATM cards very shortly. I'm not really too concerned about being "scanned" in a crowd, but I do use the small sleeves shown in the second video as that seems like a reasonable precaution. I prefer to protect each of the cards, as that way they're always shielded regardless of which wallet, case or money belt they're in.

Cheers!

If one of my card companies told me they were adding a RFID chip to any of my cards I would say "bye-bye" and find a new card company.

"...If one of my card companies told me they were adding a RFID chip to any of my cards I would say "bye-bye" and find a new card company...."

My debit debit card has the RFID chip, I love it and use the feature whenever I can. Here in the northeast lots of merchants (big/small) and vending machines have paypass style readers. It's great for making small purchases. Never even have to take the card out of my wallet, just wave the wallet in front of the the reader and I'm on my way.
I also use it in my travels. It's got near 100% acceptance in the UK. My last trip to London I used my debit card for 99% of all my purchases. It's very liberating not having to handle notes and coins. I've also used RFID in Switzerland, Istanbul, Hong Kong, and Canada.
I know there are some who warn against using debit cards for POS purchases...but for me the convenience outweighs the risks.
......and no I would never purchase any kind of RFID blocking merchandise, it completely defeats the purpose of the chip.

@emma,

I'm quite familiar with electronic and radio technology, and what's shown in the videos is absolutely possible. I added the video links just to provide some examples. Although the videos may be a few years old, the fact remains that RFID use is increasing and the risks are the same now. Whether the name is transmitted doesn't seem to matter, as scammers are still able to make fraudulent transactions. Depending on which type of RFID system is used, these can be read at distances far exceeding "a centimetre or two". The greatest risk would likely be in very crowded situations, where scammers can get close to many people in a short period of time. I do agree with you though, that everyone is certainly free to use blocking devices or not, according to their preferences.

@Bob,

"If one of my card companies told me they were adding a RFID chip to any of my cards I would say "bye-bye" and find a new card company."

It's likely that ALL card companies will be adopting this technology in future, so you may not be able to find a company that doesn't have RFID embedded in their cards. Of course, you can always disable the RFID chip if you're concerned.

It's interesting that MythBusters was legally prevented from airing an episode on the topic of RFID hacking.