First patented in 1983 by inventor Charles Walton, RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. A type of wireless communication which uses encoded digital data that can be captured by a reader via electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling within radio waves. 

In 1995 the first instance of a ‘contactless card’ was used in Seoul, when a tappable bus card was issued for the first time. Then, twelve years later a contactless Barclaycard hit the big time in 2007, allowing customers to tap their debit card to make a payment instead of the traditional method of inserting your card and entering your PIN. This new way of spending became a huge hit in the UK as it pioneered this new technology into the mainstream. 

Although originally putting spending limits on these transactions to £15, it wasn’t long before this began to increase. With the popularity of ‘contactless’ rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, shops and banks began increasing this limit to over £100 per transaction, and with this came a new set of risks and dangers. In 2022, data from Lloyds Banking Group revealed that almost 9 in 10 card payments are now contactless, a breeding ground for fraud and criminal activity, which can use this revolutionary technology to their advantage. 

A solution to this problem needed to be made, enter RFID blocking.  

RFID blocking shields stop any signals to RFID enabled cards, such as debit cards, so that your information is safe from hackers and criminals. Remember, they can steal much more than just your money through this technology, such as addresses and other personal information.

A-Slim’s RFID blocking wallets use a thin layer of RFID blocking material, sourced from our nationally accredited manufacturer, in between the wallet’s outer layer and internal lining. This allows you to keep your financial data safe by blocking the contactless card signals being read by scanners or other devices. 

This technology also prevents ‘card clash’, which is where two or more cards are scanned by a contactless card reader at one time, therefore taking payments from both cards.

It doesn’t end there, you can also customise how you want to use this technology by choosing our ‘tap n go’ wallet which features sections with and without RFID blocking, allowing one outer card to remain scannable while the inner cards remain protected; you don’t even have to take it out- just tap your wallet and go!