5 ms·

More friction than printing out a receipt and asking me to sign it? BTW, if you want to see just how efficient chip-and-pin can be, go to a bar in a nordic cou

More friction than printing out a receipt and asking me to sign it? BTW, if you want to see just how efficient chip-and-pin can be, go to a bar in a nordic country. In Helsinki I can pay with chip-and-pin as quickly as cash (assuming change). The bartenders won't even hold a tab open for you, they just charge you every time. I've experienced the same efficiency in Sweden.

clintonb 9y ago
I only sign paper at restaurants. If a signature is needed at a retail store, I usually sign a digital pad.
- wycy 9y ago
  Still seems slower than entering a pin on a number pad.
  - mattnewton 9y ago
    Also why are scribbles equatable here, they are very subjective to verify.
- ghaff 9y ago
  Increasingly you sign (or in my case scrawl a wiggly line) a pad but I still sign paper fairly regularly. One of the issues with PIN in the US is likely that you'd have needed a whole new workflow and mobile devices at sit-down restaurants. It would arguably be a better system to move to settling up at the table, but it would still be a big and expensive change.
  - smelendez 9y ago
    You needed new devices anyway to switch to chip, but I think it is a cultural issue with tipping. Some people really like that the server doesn't know how much you tipped until you leave.
    - ghaff 9y ago
      Yeah, that may be part of it. It's not really rational but I don't especially like someone waiting for me to enter a tip amount into a keypad. I imagine others feel similarly. The US isn't unique in having tips but in the UK, for example, they tend to put 10% onto the bill automatically. ADDED: And you needed new devices but not mobile systems to bring to the table.
      - nicoburns 9y ago
        However the US is unique in not paying waiting staff minimum wage, which makes tips a whole other thing.
  - bdamm 9y ago
    Other countries have already done this (e.g. Canada). So it's really only about the money and not about the culture.
- paulie_a 9y ago
  In reality you don't even need to sign the paper. You will still get charged and the signature is irrelevant
supertrope 9y ago
As of this month (April 2018), the big four card networks have stopped requiring (USA) merchants to collect signatures if chip is used. They had already waived this documentation step for the ~80% of transactions below $50.
dalore 9y ago
With the wireless payment cards, it's even more efficient then cash. Just put your card up to the machine and it takes the payment. No pin or anything. Limited to under a certain amount though. And it does sometimes ask for your pin now and then to make sure it's you.

clintonb 9y ago

I only sign paper at restaurants. If a signature is needed at a retail store, I usually sign a digital pad.

wycy 9y ago
Still seems slower than entering a pin on a number pad.
- mattnewton 9y ago
  Also why are scribbles equatable here, they are very subjective to verify.
ghaff 9y ago
Increasingly you sign (or in my case scrawl a wiggly line) a pad but I still sign paper fairly regularly. One of the issues with PIN in the US is likely that you'd have needed a whole new workflow and mobile devices at sit-down restaurants. It would arguably be a better system to move to settling up at the table, but it would still be a big and expensive change.
- smelendez 9y ago
  You needed new devices anyway to switch to chip, but I think it is a cultural issue with tipping. Some people really like that the server doesn't know how much you tipped until you leave.
  - ghaff 9y ago
    Yeah, that may be part of it. It's not really rational but I don't especially like someone waiting for me to enter a tip amount into a keypad. I imagine others feel similarly. The US isn't unique in having tips but in the UK, for example, they tend to put 10% onto the bill automatically. ADDED: And you needed new devices but not mobile systems to bring to the table.
    - nicoburns 9y ago
      However the US is unique in not paying waiting staff minimum wage, which makes tips a whole other thing.
- bdamm 9y ago
  Other countries have already done this (e.g. Canada). So it's really only about the money and not about the culture.
paulie_a 9y ago
In reality you don't even need to sign the paper. You will still get charged and the signature is irrelevant

supertrope 9y ago

As of this month (April 2018), the big four card networks have stopped requiring (USA) merchants to collect signatures if chip is used. They had already waived this documentation step for the ~80% of transactions below $50.

dalore 9y ago

With the wireless payment cards, it's even more efficient then cash. Just put your card up to the machine and it takes the payment. No pin or anything. Limited to under a certain amount though. And it does sometimes ask for your pin now and then to make sure it's you.