Consumers are already protected, the security is more for the banks. Contactless was made to not require a pin for transactions under a certain amount. It's made for convenience, no one is using it to steals 1000s. And if someone is using it to steal they aren't stealing from joe blow but from the banks.

It's not identity theft they are protecting, but bank fraud. If a merchant has a data breach and my credit card details are used to buy things online without my authorization, that isn't identity theft, but bank fraud to the bank. Since all I have to do is say that transaction isn't mine and poof it's gone.