Verifone today announced it was granted a U.S. patent for Wireless Tamper Detection, a security technology that allows payment terminals to continuously monitor themselves for physical tampering, including threats invisible to the human eye. This new patent adds to Verifone’s valuable global patent portfolio covering physical security of terminals.

The technology is designed to protect merchants and customers who rely on unattended payment devices every day: gas pumps, self-checkout lanes, outdoor kiosks. These terminals process millions of transactions with no one nearby to watch over them, making them a potential target when hidden device criminals attach or insert card skimmers to silently steal card data during legitimate transactions.

Card skimming remains one of the most persistent and costly threats in payments. Experts estimate that card skimming costs U.S. consumers and financial institutions approximately $1 billion annually [1], while FICO data shows that skimming incidents increased 5% in 2025 compared with the previous year. [2] What makes it particularly difficult to combat is that a skimmer can be small enough to slide into a card slot without changing how a terminal looks, sounds, or feels to anyone using it.