5 ms·
The whole chip thing takes like 30 more seconds. I'm considering carrying cash to just save time.
by ryanlm 10y ago
The whole chip thing takes like 30 more seconds. I'm considering carrying cash to just save time.
- germanier 10y agoThat's not inherent in the chip technology. Terminals in Sweden do the same processing with the same cards faster than you can blink. They also allow you to insert the card and enter the PIN while items are still being scanned. You just need to confirm the total amount and can directly take your card without waiting. The chip also enables contactless transactions which is even faster.
- knz 10y agoNew Zealand is the same. Processing is almost instant. It's infuriatingly slow in the US.
- lostlogin 10y agoTop tip. If you damage your magnetic strip but the chip is fine, don't go to the Coromandel without another payment method. They don't have chip readers there.
- sp332 10y agoI think it depends on the particular POS system. I'm in the US, and some stores let you swipe while your things are being rung up and others make you wait until the end. I also haven't had to wait a long time for my chip to work, but I haven't used it much.
- lorenzhs 10y agoNormally it's under 10 seconds for me with a chip and PIN debit card, the by far most common card payment method in Germany and the UK. Most credit cards here (Germany) are chip and signature, but they are used less commonly in stores. My credit card has a PIN, but I've never used it.
- MBCook 10y agoTo people down-voting him: he's right. In the US that's how long the chip part takes (for whatever nonsensical reason).
- mrweasel 10y agoThat's just really weird, because no where else is it that slow. I know others says 10 seconds, but it is much much faster than that. Here in Denmark tap to pay with credit card, well debit cards mostly, is practically instant. Honestly it's often to fast. I find myself think that I didn't pay because it to fast for me to register.
- FireBeyond 10y agoRace to the bottom. Realize that the chip is a computer and performs crypto functions. Slower chip = cheaper chip.
- jonknee 10y agoTap to pay isn't what's slow in the US, it is the chipped cards that need to be inserted into a POS device. For whatever reason they are absurdly slow. That should be great news for NFC payment services though, Apple/Android pay seem like speed demons in comparison.
- mschuster91 10y ago> it is the chipped cards that need to be inserted into a POS device. Weird. In Germany, it's usually very, very fast (recently, using my Number26 CC, payment in three seconds including PIN entry, and ten seconds later I got the push notification on my phone). But that may also very well be because it's rare here to see outdated terminals. Most retail chains change their card terminals every two or three years, because they listen to their customers who actively demand speedy transactions. Oh, and because stores usually don't own the terminals but rent them (cheapest solutions are at < 20€/month and terminal). Downside: CC fees for merchants can range up to 4%, most of it goes to the CC providers.
- MBCook 10y agoTo people down-voting him: he's right. In the US that's how long the chip part takes (for whatever nonsensical reason).
- imglorp 10y agoIt's so slow that some vendors are electing to stay with swipes. It's evidently cheaper to eat the fraud than slow down lines by ~2x. It probably translates to adding 2x cashiers. For example, the Wawa chain of convenience stores on the East coast are very good at moving people through the registers. Around 10-15s per transaction sustained throughput is common: one or two items, beep beep good day. If someone pays by check or chip, the whole thing grinds to a halt and everyone taps their foot.
- Johnny555 10y agoI've seen some grocery stores with double grocery belts, so the cashier can start checking out the next customer while the first one is finishing payment, they just sweep a divider over so the groceries go down the next belt. This was well before chip-and-pin, they probably did because of the slowness of writing checks. Though maybe this is all moot with self-checkout since the store doesn't really care that much if it takes you a bit longer to check out. Especially if they can show you ads while you wait.
- Chromozon 10y agoMy workplace cafeteria, located in Austin, Texas, just switched the registers to always use the chips on cards. The result: the lines are 2-3x as long, they have hired another cashier, and they have created a cash-only line in order to speed up the process. It's mind-boggling how slow the chips are. The cashiers have started doing two customers at once- while you are waiting for your card to validate, they are ringing up the next order.
- germanier 10y agoIt's not the chips that are slow but the card readers, networking technology and so. The same chip works much faster in many other countries.
- blakeyrat 10y agoMaybe; but it's been ages since I've seen a swiped card transaction go that slow, and the card swipe uses the same card reader hardware, the same network technology, and the same "and so".
- germanier 10y agoAs far as I know US banks use the same chip standard as European banks (EMV) and in some countries those transactions are pretty fast (in others less so). The card swipe doesn't use the same reader hardware as the chip reading (well, it is in the device) and there is more processing going on with more round trips to the bank if using the chip. Likely different parts of the software are used both at the reader and the bank as well.
- mcguire 10y agoDoes it? I don't recall it being much faster in Ireland or The Netherlands. They do have the nifty portable readers, though.
- germanier 10y agoMaybe. I don't own a US card but heard of such stories. But I can tell you that my German card is quite slow in Germany (not as slow as US transaction though) but blazingly fast in Sweden, Denmark, or France.
- rconti 10y ago10, tops. But yes, it's slower.