You can do cash back if you use tap to pay as long as the merchant or retailer offers cash back and depending on their policies.
Tap or Tap to pay does let you get cash back, but it depends on the retailer and their policies.
Many stores that accept tap to pay or contactless payments will allow you to request some cash back on a debit card purchase.
Although not all retailers or merchants that offer tap to pay also offer cash back and some retailers or merchants may still require you to insert the card for cash back even when contactless is available.
You can also pull out money using Tap to Pay from ATM machines if your card or device is tap to pay enabled and if the ATM is tap to pay enabled.
ATMs that have contactless features are also known as cardless ATMs, and allow you to pull out money using your mobile device's digital wallet or banking app instead of the physical card or you can also use your physical debit card if it has tap to pay features.
Look for a contactless symbol which is often a wave like icon on the ATM.
Then either open your bank's mobile app or digital wallet and place the place the phone near the symbol or tap the card if it is contactless enabled near the contactless symbol and then follow the prompts and enter your PIN number when asked and the amount you want to withdraw and then the cash will be dispensed.
The amount of money that you can tap on a debit card is up to $250.00 for Visa, Mastercard and American Express.
For larger purchases you often need to swipe or insert the card instead of tapping to pay.
Some merchants may have lower limits.
You are are also not charged every time you tap your card.
You're only charged one time for the transaction amount when you use tap to pay or contactless payments even if you accidentally tap twice, you won't be charged twice.
The fees for tap to pay or contactless payments are often the same fees for traditional card transactions such as inserting the chip or swiping.
To properly use tap to pay with your debit card or credit card, look for the contactless symbol on the card reader which has 4 curved lines.
Then hold your card near the symbol until the transaction is processed.
You don't need to insert the card or swipe the card and you will often get a confirmation beep or light when the transaction is complete.
It is better to tap a credit card or debit card for payment instead of inserting the credit card or debit card for payment as tapping the credit card or debit card for payment is more secure and reduces the risks of skimming and it also reads the credit card or debit card much faster and easier than inserting or swiping the credit card or debit card.
Tap to Pay does require a PIN in some cases, especially for larger purchases and some places may require you enter a PIN for your security which is a good idea.
PINs are sometimes but not always required for smaller purchases with Tap to Pay.
In general though tap to pay is safer than swiping or inserting your card into the reader.
Tap to Pay is safer than inserting a card as tap to pay prevents card skimming.
A card skimmer could be put on a card reader and would skim your card information as you slide your card or insert your card, but with tap to pay the skimmer won't get your card information.
Contactless payments use tokenization and encryption to protect your payment and card information, which makes it much harder for criminals to steal your card details.
Your card information could be stolen from tap to pay but it's not very likely that it would happen.
Tap to pay uses Near Field Communication or NFC and Radio Frequency Identification or RFID to transmit your payment information from your card to the payment terminal.
The data from your card is also encrypted when transmitted and often generates a one time code for each transaction and makes it more secure than swiping of the card.
The NFC technology has a very short range which is around a few centimeters, which theoretically limits the ability of criminals to intercept the signal.
Criminals and data thieves could potentially use specialized NFC readers to intercept the signal at very close range.
Or if a merchant's payment terminal is compromised, hackers could potentially steal data during transactions.
And your card information could be exposed in large scale data breaches of retailers or payment processors.
And although less common than physical card theft, there's also a theoretical risk of someone using a card reader to steal the data from your card while it's in your bag or pocket.
To protect your debit card or credit card from being scanned you can use RFID blocking sleeves or RFID blocking wallets.
Also be cautious about card readers at gas pumps, ATMs and other places and cover your PIN number when entering the PIN number.
You should also enable transaction alerts and use a digital wallet when you can do so, and you should always report any suspicious activity immediately.
If you can when buying gas with your debit card or credit card you should go inside and pay to avoid the potential of a card skimmer which can more easily be placed on the gas pumps.
RFID blocking wallets and RFID blocking sleeves are designed with a material that blocks the radio waves that are used by RFID scanners and prevents unauthorized reading of your debit card or credit card's information.
Also if you have multiple debit cards or credit cards you should stack them together and also consider keeping your drivers license in front of it in your wallet to help further block the RFID scanners.
And keep your wallet in your front pocket, which can also deter pickpockets and make it harder for scanners to access your debit cards or credit cards.
Before using any ATM machines or card readers you should examine the card readers for any signs of tampering like loose parts, different colors or anything else that looks unusual.
And pay attention to your surroundings when using ATM machines, especially in isolated areas or public areas and consider the use of an ATM that is inside of a bank or other secure location.
When you enter your PIN you should also use your hand to shield the keypad from potential cameras.
Also avoid using your credit card or debit card on unsecured websites or any websites that look suspicious and never give out your credit card or debit card information to someone over the phone unless you called them an know they are a legit business.