Cashless payment cards

[semi-pro waster]

I may just be behind the times but I wasn't aware that cashless payments from credit/debit cards were an option (aside from the Oyster Card) and only reading this article showed me that you already could in certain places. This sounds like a rather bad idea to me, we already know that many retailers don't look at signatures for transactions so Chip N' Pin was introduced as more secure then for some reason this security is now being waived (almost literally if you drop an "i") so that you have to do little more than flash your card at a reader to process the purchase.

Maybe I'm missing something but I really don't see the point other than making it a bit less secure to purchase things, from what I can tell the system works for purchases of £10 or less which is hardly a huge amount of cash to be carrying around anyway. Many of the providers charge for the services as well, possibly to cover the almost inevitable fraud so it is hardly a cheap option. For the system to be really useful for people I'd have thought the limit would need to be increased beyond £10, at which point it becomes more of a liability as the attraction for thieves would also increase. I'm additionally not keen on the idea of RFID tags or whatever is used for triggering the purchase being stuck into cards but that is perhaps a subject for another thread.

Anyone got any more positive thoughts than me? Perhaps I'm simply ignoring the benefits that are obvious to everyone else?

 

[Hamish]

I think its cool, good for taking to work so you can buy a sandwich and a paper without carrying a load of coins around...

 

[Raymond Lin]

It might sound weird but almost everyone in Hong Kong has one of these smart oyster cards (Pre-paid wave and go cards), they keep it in their wallet and never have to get it out. Just wave it at tube/train/buses/7-Eleven...etc to pay for stuff.

I don't see anyone worries about it there, everyone has one, from school kids to commuters. It's the change that scares people, once people get used to it and becomes a part of everyday life, you'll find it hard to live without it.

 

[jas72]

in belgium we have PROTON which is a bit like it.

You can charge your chip up with "cash" and spend it in newsagents, buy metro train tickets with it and even some vending machines take them.

It's fantastic and i really miss it when I go back to the uk and have to get a lot more cash out of the machine. It's not any riskier than having cash in your pocket and saves on loose change.

You don't have to type in a pin therefore it's faster (especially in the morning getting your paper )

Just wish the UK would hurry up with these things. Banking in the UK feels like it's in the stone age compared to here.