4 ms·

I think the "point" of contactless is to make the transactions quicker. Where it used to (in the UK) take 30 seconds to put your card in the chip and pin machin

I think the "point" of contactless is to make the transactions quicker. Where it used to (in the UK) take 30 seconds to put your card in the chip and pin machine, enter your pin number and wait for the transaction to be confirmed, now its literally 3 seconds. Over the course of a year that is a massive time saving for the retailer and so a cost saving (less staff). With chip and pin the customer was liable for all transactions when their pin number was used. It was your responsibility to ensure it wasn't exposed. Now with contactless there is no risk to the customer, the bank/retailer takes on the full risk of fraud for contactless payments. You will not be out of pocket for a fraudulent contactless transaction. This is why contactless transaction are limited to £30 (initially was £20), it limits the bank/retailers potential exposure to contactless fraud, its also handily set to just about the average card transaction in the UK.

superuser2 11y ago
Interesting. In the US most businesses use magnetic stripe readers which take ~1 second from swipe to approval.
- josephmx 11y ago
  We stopped using that for lack of security, plus I think signing the receipt (and carbon copy) is time consuming, right?
  - VLM 11y ago
    I don't do much legacy brick and mortar CC shopping anymore, but it seems completely random at Home Depot and Target if they want my signature or not. Maybe after X transactions in the last Y days they no longer need a sig. With a possible side dish of Z percent or lower of transactions are fraudulent from this store.
- gambiting 11y ago
  You can use swipe in some places in the UK, but then you have to wait for the receipt to print, the cashier to find a pen, you have to sign it and the cashier has to verify it, click on the terminal that they did, and get a final receipt printed. It's even more hassle than typing in a pin.
- takluyver 11y ago
  But then you usually have to sign as well. Chip and PIN transactions don't need a signature, and in my experience the total time to swipe+sign is about the same same as insert+pin. Contactless payments don't need a signature or a PIN, so they're significantly quicker.
  - superuser2 11y ago
    I rarely if ever have to sign for a purchase under $25.

superuser2 11y ago

Interesting. In the US most businesses use magnetic stripe readers which take ~1 second from swipe to approval.

josephmx 11y ago
We stopped using that for lack of security, plus I think signing the receipt (and carbon copy) is time consuming, right?
- VLM 11y ago
  I don't do much legacy brick and mortar CC shopping anymore, but it seems completely random at Home Depot and Target if they want my signature or not. Maybe after X transactions in the last Y days they no longer need a sig. With a possible side dish of Z percent or lower of transactions are fraudulent from this store.
gambiting 11y ago
You can use swipe in some places in the UK, but then you have to wait for the receipt to print, the cashier to find a pen, you have to sign it and the cashier has to verify it, click on the terminal that they did, and get a final receipt printed. It's even more hassle than typing in a pin.
takluyver 11y ago
But then you usually have to sign as well. Chip and PIN transactions don't need a signature, and in my experience the total time to swipe+sign is about the same same as insert+pin. Contactless payments don't need a signature or a PIN, so they're significantly quicker.
- superuser2 11y ago
  I rarely if ever have to sign for a purchase under $25.