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Interesting application. But it begs the question : how comfortable would you be handing over your credit card to a small business like a hot dog stand or a fa

Interesting application. But it begs the question : how comfortable would you be handing over your credit card to a small business like a hot dog stand or a farmer's market vendor ? My credit card was "cloned" once and since then I never use my credit card with small shops and restaurants. Will this service ever take off when there is a perfectly good substitute -- petty cash ? The bigger shops already have a cash register.

ceejayoz 15y ago
> But it begs the question : how comfortable would you be handing over your credit card to a small business like a hot dog stand or a farmer's market vendor ? More - I see the same folks at my farmer's market every weekend. I know their names, where their farm is, etc. If they clone my card, I'm going to go punch them in the face.
erikpukinskis 15y ago
how comfortable would you be handing over your credit card to a small business like a hot dog stand or a farmer's market vendor You don't need to speculate. Go down to your local farmer's market and see how many vendors are using Square. This week I've paid for coffee and a burrito with it. And I live in Phoenix, not San Francisco. Are you unaware that all major credit cards offer no-questions-asked fraud protection? That were someone to fraudulently impersonate Square to steal your credit card info that you could simply reject the charges and get a new card? Will this service ever take off when there is a perfectly good substitute -- petty cash Petty cash and credit cards have drastically different properties: * Petty cash is only obtainable at specific locations (ATMs, banks). Credit is instantly available at nearly all payment locations. * Petty cash offers no fraud protection. If someone steals it, it's gone. If someone sells you something under false pretenses, you have no redress. * Obtaining and transporting large amounts of cash for a large purchase (a nice couch, for example) is time consuming and dangerous. What do you mean by "perfectly good substitute"? I can't think of any way to parse that phrase that makes sense in this context.
- badmash69 15y ago
  Maybe I am not in the right demographic category to appreciate this. I like using cash for small purchases. I like the anonymity, the convenience and easy availability ( I typically carry some in my wallet). Most of all , I would not feel comfortable handing out my card to small shops or vendors that I hardly ever visit. For large purchases, like the couch example, most such stores already have cash registers that support Credit cards. I don't see them as using this service. Please note that I am not saying this is a bad idea. I am saying that it is positioned as an alternative to small cash transactions for small businesses. That would be hard to beat.
  - ceejayoz 15y ago
    > Most of all , I would not feel comfortable handing out my card to small shops or vendors that I hardly ever visit. Why? Fraud protection is the same, and smaller vendors are more worried about their reputation in the community than, say, Target or Best Buy.

ceejayoz 15y ago

> But it begs the question : how comfortable would you be handing over your credit card to a small business like a hot dog stand or a farmer's market vendor ? More - I see the same folks at my farmer's market every weekend. I know their names, where their farm is, etc. If they clone my card, I'm going to go punch them in the face.

erikpukinskis 15y ago

how comfortable would you be handing over your credit card to a small business like a hot dog stand or a farmer's market vendor You don't need to speculate. Go down to your local farmer's market and see how many vendors are using Square. This week I've paid for coffee and a burrito with it. And I live in Phoenix, not San Francisco. Are you unaware that all major credit cards offer no-questions-asked fraud protection? That were someone to fraudulently impersonate Square to steal your credit card info that you could simply reject the charges and get a new card? Will this service ever take off when there is a perfectly good substitute -- petty cash Petty cash and credit cards have drastically different properties: * Petty cash is only obtainable at specific locations (ATMs, banks). Credit is instantly available at nearly all payment locations. * Petty cash offers no fraud protection. If someone steals it, it's gone. If someone sells you something under false pretenses, you have no redress. * Obtaining and transporting large amounts of cash for a large purchase (a nice couch, for example) is time consuming and dangerous. What do you mean by "perfectly good substitute"? I can't think of any way to parse that phrase that makes sense in this context.

badmash69 15y ago
Maybe I am not in the right demographic category to appreciate this. I like using cash for small purchases. I like the anonymity, the convenience and easy availability ( I typically carry some in my wallet). Most of all , I would not feel comfortable handing out my card to small shops or vendors that I hardly ever visit. For large purchases, like the couch example, most such stores already have cash registers that support Credit cards. I don't see them as using this service. Please note that I am not saying this is a bad idea. I am saying that it is positioned as an alternative to small cash transactions for small businesses. That would be hard to beat.
- ceejayoz 15y ago
  > Most of all , I would not feel comfortable handing out my card to small shops or vendors that I hardly ever visit. Why? Fraud protection is the same, and smaller vendors are more worried about their reputation in the community than, say, Target or Best Buy.