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Contactless Payment Timeline

Compare card and wallet tap flows across RF coupling, EMV kernels, CVM, tokenisation, issuer authorisation, and relay or offline risk.

FieldKernelCVMTokenIssuerRisktapCardcard poweredWalletwallet readyTerminalpollingIssuernot reachedContactless starts with radio coupling before any banking logic appears.
Step 1 / 6RF field wakes the card or wallet

The terminal creates a short-range field that powers a passive card or starts a phone-wallet exchange.

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