5 ms·

Can I ask why, in the US, your card might disappear for several minutes when dining? In the UK they bring the card reader to you.

gambiting 8y ago
It's actually against the terms and conditions of Visa and MasterCard in EU to take the card away for any reason, if any establishment does this report them to Visa/MasterCard and they'll get their terminals revoked if they don't comply. It's inconceivable to me that in US bars keep your card to keep the tab open for example - it's insane that people agree to this.
- devonkim 8y ago
  It’s kind of amazing to me that despite the sheer insecurity of US consumer financial products like credit cards that the rate of credit card fraud isn’t even higher than it is. Maybe there’s an incentive somewhere we’re unaware of to allow such fraud to occur.
  - ams6110 8y ago
    The rate of fraud is low enough that the cost reduce it further would be more than the savings. That sucks for you if you're a fraud victim, but the card companies don't really care if they make more money by not trying to stop more fraud.
- gruez 8y ago
  > in US bars keep your card to keep the tab open What's the point of keeping a tab then? Why not pay the full amount each night? Also, there's nothing preventing you from giving them a card, then reporting it lost/stolen
  - rocqua 8y ago
    I guess it is for tabs kept during a single stay, rather than across multiple stays. This would then be to defend against people who 'Dine and Dash'.
    - gambiting 8y ago
      Except that the rest of the world has long ago figured out the solution to this that does not involve strangers keeping my card behind a bar - they come to your table with a terminal(or you come to them), you enter the card + pin and preauthorize payment. Done - you keep your card, they can charge you if you run away, your card numbers are not compromised. Easy.
- rootusrootus 8y ago
  That's just bar policy, you can tell them to give you the card back. There's no requirement they hold the card.
usrusr 8y ago
In the age of cheap, wireless chip+pin terminals, I think that the rite of taking the card to The Secret Room Where The Bills Are Printed is merely a show staged for status reasons: the patron gets to show off confidence (as in the original con trick) while the restaurant gets to show off how much patrons trust them. The first restaurants breaking that line would come off as not sufficiently trustworthy, taking a completely unwarranted reputation hit. It must be a well known paradox, the more you expect people to trust you, the more they will be inclined to trust you.

gambiting 8y ago

It's actually against the terms and conditions of Visa and MasterCard in EU to take the card away for any reason, if any establishment does this report them to Visa/MasterCard and they'll get their terminals revoked if they don't comply. It's inconceivable to me that in US bars keep your card to keep the tab open for example - it's insane that people agree to this.

devonkim 8y ago
It’s kind of amazing to me that despite the sheer insecurity of US consumer financial products like credit cards that the rate of credit card fraud isn’t even higher than it is. Maybe there’s an incentive somewhere we’re unaware of to allow such fraud to occur.
- ams6110 8y ago
  The rate of fraud is low enough that the cost reduce it further would be more than the savings. That sucks for you if you're a fraud victim, but the card companies don't really care if they make more money by not trying to stop more fraud.
gruez 8y ago
> in US bars keep your card to keep the tab open What's the point of keeping a tab then? Why not pay the full amount each night? Also, there's nothing preventing you from giving them a card, then reporting it lost/stolen
- rocqua 8y ago
  I guess it is for tabs kept during a single stay, rather than across multiple stays. This would then be to defend against people who 'Dine and Dash'.
  - gambiting 8y ago
    Except that the rest of the world has long ago figured out the solution to this that does not involve strangers keeping my card behind a bar - they come to your table with a terminal(or you come to them), you enter the card + pin and preauthorize payment. Done - you keep your card, they can charge you if you run away, your card numbers are not compromised. Easy.
rootusrootus 8y ago
That's just bar policy, you can tell them to give you the card back. There's no requirement they hold the card.

usrusr 8y ago

In the age of cheap, wireless chip+pin terminals, I think that the rite of taking the card to The Secret Room Where The Bills Are Printed is merely a show staged for status reasons: the patron gets to show off confidence (as in the original con trick) while the restaurant gets to show off how much patrons trust them. The first restaurants breaking that line would come off as not sufficiently trustworthy, taking a completely unwarranted reputation hit. It must be a well known paradox, the more you expect people to trust you, the more they will be inclined to trust you.