Contactless payments as implemented in Australia is (IMHO) a disaster. Here are the problems:
- No opt out. You couldn't get an ATM card without it. This led to various guides on drilling a hole in the RF antenna to disable it. Last I heard the ACCC was intervening to force the big banks to give consumers an opt out. Not sure if this has happened yet.
- Report your card stolen and the thief can still keep using PayPass. Why is this even possible in the modern age of the Internet?
- The burden of proof on unauthorized transactions is on the consumer. I seem to recall reading something from the T&Cs that claimed you could be charged a fee for a "false" (ie denied) claim and you could only claim unauthorized transactions once or twice a year.
- In the case of disputed transactions the merchant is on the hook for it leading some to not accept it.
Basically contactless payments in Australia are an effort by the big banks to not be responsible for fraud. There's no real benefit to consumers.