Most People Trust Their Credit Card More Than Their Phone. They Shouldn't.

Grigorios Avramidis — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:19:29 +0000

Most people trust their physical card more than their smartphone when it comes to making payments. From a security perspective, however, the opposite is often true.

In our daily lives, most of us have already adopted contactless transactions with shops and merchants, either through our physical card or through digital wallets such as Apple Pay for Apple devices and Google Pay for Android devices. However, there is still a common prejudice, as many people consider this technology to be “dangerous”. The truth, however, is quite the opposite.

How do contactless transactions work? What exactly is NFC, which we often hear about and look for when choosing a smartphone? And in the end, is it safer to pay with a physical card or through a digital wallet on our phone?

I understand that a large part of society hears terms such as NFC, Apple Pay, Google Pay and similar technologies and wonders what they actually are. Many people remain skeptical about technology, even though it was introduced into our lives to make things easier, not to harm us.

A few decades ago, in order to complete a card transaction, we had to swipe the card through the machine. Later, Chip & PIN technology appeared, and today NFC (Near Field Communication) technology dominates.

NFC allows two devices, for example a card and a POS terminal, to exchange data when they are very close to each other. In other words, it is a wireless communication technology that allows the payment process to be completed within just a few seconds.

But is this communication between the card and the POS secure?

If a malicious actor gains access to the data stored on the POS system, would they also gain access to our card details?

The answer is yes. As has happened many times in the past, thousands of card details have been stolen after attackers gained access to payment systems.

This is exactly the problem that digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay were designed to address.

Instead of carrying physical cards, users store them in digital form on their smartphones, which then communicate with the POS terminal through NFC technology.

Someone might ask: why is it safer to store my card on my phone and pay with it?

What if the phone is lost or stolen?

The answer is simple. A physical card can also be lost or stolen.

The difference, however, is that if a phone is lost, a third party will not be able to access the wallet and the stored cards. First, the device itself is protected with a security passcode, ideally a six-digit code. Second, biometric authentication such as Face ID or fingerprint recognition is enabled. Third, the device can be remotely locked as soon as the loss is detected, making it useless to anyone who finds or steals it.

In contrast, if a physical card is lost or stolen, the person who gets hold of it can see all the card details: the card number, the cardholder’s name, the expiration date, and the three-digit security code (CVC / CVV ). With this information, they could potentially make online purchases or use the card for small contactless payments.

It quickly becomes clear that in the first case, if the necessary security measures are applied, even if the phone is lost the chances of financial loss are extremely small. In the second case, however, the user is much more exposed.

Beyond these points, smartphones offer another important security advantage.

When a transaction is made, the real card number is never shared with the merchant. If you look at the merchant’s receipt after completing the transaction, you may notice that the card number shown at the bottom does not match the number of your actual card.

What does this mean in simple terms?

It means that for the purpose of the transaction, a virtual card number is created with a random and unique value. This means that even if someone compromises the POS system, they will not obtain the real card details but only a useless number that cannot be used again.

In conclusion, mobile payments provide three layers of security: tokenization , biometric authentication, and remote device locking or deletion. A physical card, on the other hand, only offers the possibility of cancelling it by contacting the bank, hoping that the loss will be noticed in time.

It is in human nature to fear something new, especially when it concerns money and technology. However, digital payment technologies were not designed only for speed but mainly to fix the security gaps of older payment methods.

The transition from a physical wallet to a digital one is therefore not simply a trend. It is an improvement in our security. NFC technology together with platforms such as Apple Pay and Google Pay helps reduce the chances of fraud while simplifying our daily lives.

Next time you are at the checkout, do not hesitate to use your phone. It may be the safest way you have ever paid.

Is Artificial Intelligence Dangerous? Did it come into our lives to make them easier or to destroy them?

Grigorios Avramidis — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:18:17 +0000

In this article, I will briefly describe what Artificial Intelligence (AI) is, what it has come to change in our lives and everyday routines, and the potential dangers it carries.

Cole Stryker, in his article “What is AI?” published on IBM’s website, states that AI is a technology that enables computers and machines to imitate human learning, understanding, problem-solving, and decision-making.

In the year 2025, every electronic device possesses some form of AI capability. These capabilities include:
• Seeing and recognizing objects
• Understanding and responding to human language
• Learning from new information and experiences
• Making recommendations to users and professionals based on data and predictions
• Acting autonomously without human intervention (e.g., a self-driving car)

Every single day, every minute and second that passes, AI systems become hundreds thousands perhaps even millions of times more intelligent, thanks to the human factor that feeds and trains them.
While we may be fascinated by the convenience and sophistication of AI models, are we truly heading in the right direction? Could our reckless reliance on AI actually be weakening us, making us intellectually lazier and less capable?

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, stated that “a child born today will never be smarter than AI.” If we think about it, this is both terrifying and a powerful warning. It means that a human creation is gradually surpassing its creator becoming smarter than humans themselves, and turning into an essential, inseparable part of daily life.

I had the opportunity to attend the 5th Annual Cyber Greece Conference, with this year’s theme being “The Future Powered by A.I.” During the event, I heard various thought-provoking opinions. One of the most striking was from Ioannis Mastrogeorgiou, Special Secretary for Long-Term Planning in the Office of the Greek Prime Minister, who highlighted two major risks associated with AI:

Anthropomorphism the tendency to believe that what we are interacting with is human. This can lead many emotionally vulnerable or young individuals to seek companionship and advice from AI systems, sometimes even driving them toward tragic outcomes such as suicide.
Intellectual Weakening the risk of delegating everything to AI. This results in people no longer exercising their own minds, expecting quick and effortless answers without verifying their accuracy.
No technological advancement has ever been designed to make life worse. It is entirely up to us how we use and manage it whether we make AI a powerful ally or allow it to become the beginning of our own downfall.

In my opinion, the greatest danger is intellectual weakening. More and more people rely on AI for everything: to search for information, to write assignments, articles, code virtually anything imaginable. This leads us to lose our critical thinking skills and become increasingly passive. Combined with the digital age, social media overuse, and constant dependence on technology, we are becoming mentally weaker heading, with mathematical certainty, toward the decline of humankind as we know it today.

Grigorios Avramidis – Computer Engineer & MSc Cybersecurity Student

DEV Community: Grigorios Avramidis

Most People Trust Their Credit Card More Than Their Phone. They Shouldn't.

Is Artificial Intelligence Dangerous? Did it come into our lives to make them easier or to destroy them?