RFID Protected Bags

Following the announcement of the 2021 budget earlier in the month that the contactless payment limit in the UK will rise from £45 to £100, we wanted to remind you of what we do to help keep you safe on every one of your commutes & adventures. While the new higher contactless payment limit carries many health & convenience benefits, it now means criminals are able to use ‘skimming’ to steal more from your contactless cards than they previously could. Here are your top questions about RFID protection answered.

What is RFID?

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification; it is a smart way of wirelessly tagging objects via electromagnetic fields to track and store information- sort of like a barcode. When the RFID tag is triggered by a nearby reader it sends out information through radio waves for the receiver to interpret.

Where do you usually find RFID?

From your oyster card to the chips in your passports, you most likely use types of RFID technology daily without even knowing it. RF technology is responsible for preventing shoplifters as the RFID tags on groceries trigger the alarms if someone were to leave without paying. It is the magic that allows for skipping the passport control queues and contactless payments. The use of contactless payment methods has increased dramatically worldwide in the past decade and it is only going to go up, with the expected RFID market to be worth $18.68 billion by 2026, from $8.89 billion in 2014.

What is RFID blocking?

Unlike a barcode, your RFID enabled items do not need to be in the line of sight of a scanner to be read, so the RFID tag can be embedded into a product and be scanned as long as it is within range, this is where the potential for theft comes in. Using short-distance scanners, criminals can ‘skim’ your RFID enabled items to steal all the information stored in your bank cards or passport, such as your name, address, card numbers and expiration dates, all without you even realising.

Why KNOMO bags have RFID blocking?

As good as we are at making stylish and organised bags for you, our loyal customer base, we also take measures to equip our bags with the best security features to protect you from theft. A large collection of our KNOMO bags include a pocket lined with an intelligent technology called RFID protection, this protects you from the ‘passive skimming’ of your contactless payment cards & passports, preventing your information and money from being stolen.

Is RFID protection a good way to prevent me being hacked?

Thankfully, electromagnetic waves emitted by RFID tags are pretty easy to block with the use of an RFID protected material. Each one of our RFID protected bags and organisers come with an RFID protected pocket fitted with card slots that interfere with any electromagnetic waves, keeping all your sensitive items safe from RFID skimming theft. These pockets are lined with a sheet of a copper alloy to deter the electromagnetic signals that RFID scanners emit to stop the transfer of information from occurring.

Metals such as aluminium nickel or copper are a great way of protecting yourself from RFID theft, and our travel wallets and bags make it so that you don’t sacrifice the style for the safety, discreetly lining the pockets so you wouldn’t even know the alloy is there

Shop our range of RFID protected bags here