9F74

Protected Data Envelope 5 belongs to the opposite half of Kernel 2's data-storage design from the Unprotected Data Envelopes already covered in this dictionary (9F76, 9F79): where those carry free-read data with no integrity guarantee, the Protected family - of which 9F74 is one member, related to 9F71 through 9F73 as siblings in the same numbered sequence - has its write access guarded, meaning the card itself controls who can modify it rather than leaving it open the way an unprotected envelope is. This is a genuine, meaningful design distinction worth not glossing over: protected here is specifically about write-access control on the card's own data storage, not about the cryptographic integrity signing gives to fields like the Signed Static Application Data (93) - a protected envelope can still be read freely; what's restricted is who can change it. Scoped to Mastercard's Kernel 2 data-storage feature, a terminal integrating loyalty or issuer-specific programs against this envelope needs to consult Mastercard's own data-storage documentation for what 9F74 actually contains, since, like the Terminal Risk Management Data (9F1D) covered earlier, its payload isn't standardised by the core EMV spec. See EMV Contactless Book C-2.