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I get it, but think of what you're getting in return. The example in the article, about the Coke vending machine. Imagine in the past, before vending machines

I get it, but think of what you're getting in return. The example in the article, about the Coke vending machine. Imagine in the past, before vending machines - the only way you would be able to buy a Coke in that particular area would be if there was enough foot traffic to justify a full time real human being to sit there all day, with inventory of soft drinks, and exchange your cash for them. The opportunity cost alone of having a human being sit there and accept payments, and risk being robbed, is immense compared to the cost of putting a vending machine there with an electronic payment system. I would argue that without new technologies like this, your ability as a consumer to buy a Coke would be severely limited. We might as well go back to a feudal society where everyone met in the village market during the morning to buy food and goods. The convenience factor alone of being able to buy anything you want in almost any area of the world, at any time of day or night, without having to have a live human being there to perform the transaction, is huge.

stdbrouw 10y ago
This has to be the worst imaginable example. Have you never seen a coin-operated vending machine?
- rvense 10y ago
  Or had to live without a coke for half an hour till you passed by somewhere where they were sold? My country will be more or less cashless within a few years. We are handing over complete power over the economy to unaccountable private institutions, and the debate always comes down to convenience and eliminating robberies. It's a travesty.
scrumper 10y ago
An electronic payments system-based vending machine is risker (where the risk is to your ability as a consumer to get a coke on demand) than the current model (coin operated vending machine) since it depends on connectivity to the payments network to function. This is easily interrupted through malice, negligence, or oversight. In my experience coin op vending machines by and large work; bill readers are hit and miss; card reading machines almost never function. (BTW not downvoting you, but your comment does inexplicably ignore coin op machines which are an existent, good solution.)
- Symbiote 10y ago
  The Chip+PIN system includes an offline mode, which is especially suitable for small transactions like this. "The transaction is authorized either online and offline. For an online authorization, transactions proceed as they do today in the U.S. with magnetic stripe cards. The transaction information is sent to the issuer, along with a transaction-specific cryptogram, and the issuer either authorizes or declines the transaction. In an offline EMV transaction, the card and terminal communicate and use issuer-defined risk parameters that are set in the card to determine whether the transaction can be authorized. Offline transactions are used when terminals do not have online connectivity (e.g., at a ticket kiosk) or in countries where telecommunications costs are high." http://www.emv-connection.com/emv-faq/ http://www.emv-connection.com/emv-faq/ It's in wide use in Europe, for instance a ticket machine on a train or tram, or for low-value transactions (bus tickets, fast food), or where there's no connection (purchase on a plane -- where they will probably only accept credit cards beyond a certain amount).
- ghaff 10y ago
  In Japan, vending machines that take Pasmo and similar smart cards are pretty common. But Japan is pretty much an outlier AFAIK in its extremely widespread use of this type of technology.
  - kalleboo 10y ago
    Not just in Japan, plenty of countries in Asia have offline stored-value cards that started out as train cards but can be used in many shops [commonly in convenience stores] as well (see Octopus in Hong Kong, ez-link in Singapore, EasyCard in Taiwan, Touch 'n Go in Malaysia, etc)

stdbrouw 10y ago

This has to be the worst imaginable example. Have you never seen a coin-operated vending machine?

rvense 10y ago
Or had to live without a coke for half an hour till you passed by somewhere where they were sold? My country will be more or less cashless within a few years. We are handing over complete power over the economy to unaccountable private institutions, and the debate always comes down to convenience and eliminating robberies. It's a travesty.

scrumper 10y ago

An electronic payments system-based vending machine is risker (where the risk is to your ability as a consumer to get a coke on demand) than the current model (coin operated vending machine) since it depends on connectivity to the payments network to function. This is easily interrupted through malice, negligence, or oversight. In my experience coin op vending machines by and large work; bill readers are hit and miss; card reading machines almost never function. (BTW not downvoting you, but your comment does inexplicably ignore coin op machines which are an existent, good solution.)

Symbiote 10y ago
The Chip+PIN system includes an offline mode, which is especially suitable for small transactions like this. "The transaction is authorized either online and offline. For an online authorization, transactions proceed as they do today in the U.S. with magnetic stripe cards. The transaction information is sent to the issuer, along with a transaction-specific cryptogram, and the issuer either authorizes or declines the transaction. In an offline EMV transaction, the card and terminal communicate and use issuer-defined risk parameters that are set in the card to determine whether the transaction can be authorized. Offline transactions are used when terminals do not have online connectivity (e.g., at a ticket kiosk) or in countries where telecommunications costs are high." http://www.emv-connection.com/emv-faq/ http://www.emv-connection.com/emv-faq/ It's in wide use in Europe, for instance a ticket machine on a train or tram, or for low-value transactions (bus tickets, fast food), or where there's no connection (purchase on a plane -- where they will probably only accept credit cards beyond a certain amount).
ghaff 10y ago
In Japan, vending machines that take Pasmo and similar smart cards are pretty common. But Japan is pretty much an outlier AFAIK in its extremely widespread use of this type of technology.
- kalleboo 10y ago
  Not just in Japan, plenty of countries in Asia have offline stored-value cards that started out as train cards but can be used in many shops [commonly in convenience stores] as well (see Octopus in Hong Kong, ez-link in Singapore, EasyCard in Taiwan, Touch 'n Go in Malaysia, etc)