[Whitfield:] Just in time for the impending hurricane season, Adrian is out there. It was a tropical storm, but I have a feeling Rob Marciano, you're going to tell us something else. Let's come back to me.
[Rob Marciano, Cnn Meteorologist:] Thanks, Fred.
[O'brien:] Thanks for driving the bus. There you go.
[Whitfield:] I'm taking a turn.
[O'brien:] When I say the term flash and go, what do you think of? Public indecency and then running away? No, no.
[Whitfield:] Flash and go. Talking to people that are not dressed properly.
[O'brien:] Actually, this has to do with credit cards, folks. Major credit card companies are rolling out a new swipeless card. But it's raising some issue, and it has nothing to do with the rain coats. CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff, live from New York with details and a demo of the card, right, Allan?
[Allan Chernoff, Cnn Correspondent:] Exactly, Miles. Are you tired of trying to swipe your card and swipe it again, and the transaction simply doesn't go through? Well, soon you'll actually be able to flash your card. So here at the financier in lower Manhattan if I want some delicious biscotti, all I need to do is actually flash it in front of a reader, and as you can see, there's chip technology embedded right into the card. Here's the little antenna surrounding that chip. That's what makes this technology possible. American Express has been test marketing this in Phoenix for actually two years, and next month they plan to go nationwide with it. Chase Bank also is planning to do that. Chase is the largest card issuer in the entire country, so this will be a big splash. It certainly is widely anticipated, and it is going to increase the speed of charging. So plastic is going to increase in speed. The only question here, though, is the technology, in fact, secure?
[Avi Rubin, John Hopkins University:] It's very, very easy to get the security wrong when you do something like this, because you're constrained by the low power in these batteryless devices. The devices the cards don't have batteries on them, so the circuits can only compute very simple functions. And so getting security with such a low power environment is quite difficult.
[Chernoff:] The card companies say they have actually achieved that, and that their technology is rock solid.
[David Bonalle, American Express:] Any card member with American Express will never be held liable for any fraudulent charges. Our consumers are protected. What this what this new technology allows us to do is to prevent the more sophisticated types of fraud, of stealing the card data directly from the card.
[Chernoff:] So Amex is going to be introducing this on their blue card. It won't be offered on the traditional green American Express card, but they are certainly anticipating that this is going to increase the use of credit cards. So, Miles, as one industry executive said to me earlier today, cash is going to be very boring.
[O'brien:] I'm still confused. He said it actually increases security by making it harder to get a hold of the data off the card. If it's actually emitting this information, wouldn't it be easier to get it?
[Chernoff:] What they're saying is that the when you actually make a transaction, when I flash the card here, that is creating an individual data signature, whereas with a traditional card, every time you use that card, it's the same data encrypted. So it's easier for a scam artist to actually take a machine. If he were able to actually get your card, he could scan the card and get your number off of that card. With this type of technology, that can't be done. So that's why they're saying this, in fact, is better technology, is more secure. There is one problem though, potentially, and that is they're not requiring merchants to take a signature. So you won't be able to verify the card holder. Somebody steals that card, that could be a problem.
[O'brien:] Allan, tell me the truth, has swiping the card been killing you?
[Chernoff:] Actually, sometimes it does take a few, yes. We've got long lines here in New York.
[O'brien:] All right.
[Chernoff:] Frustrated New Yorkers.
[Whitfield:] The amount of time this is going to save.
[O'brien:] No time for swiping. OK. All right, Allan, we'll see you later.
[Chernoff:] And you know, we hate to wait in New York.
[O'brien:] There you go. It's all about the New Yorkers and not waiting. All right. Thanks a lot, Allan Fred.
[Whitfield:] Well, that makes me nervous. But this might make you nervous, too. Imagine you're stuck in traffic, and you see this. It gives a whole new meaning to the term rubber necking. It's developing at LIVE FROM photo mat, straight ahead.