4 ms·

The US still has a heavy reliance on magstripe, even though we rolled out EMV, and many cards still have it, and you can just take a stripe dump regardless. Th

The US still has a heavy reliance on magstripe, even though we rolled out EMV, and many cards still have it, and you can just take a stripe dump regardless. The actual user of the stolen card dump will cause the terminal to allow a magstripe fallback (typically with a bad chip on a fake card that won't read) -- "aw jeez my stupid chip isn't reading" is still every much a valid excuse to a cashier to go to magstripe.

macNchz 3y ago
Makes me think about intentionally corrupting the magstripe on my cards. I wonder if that’d cause any issues. I can’t remember having to fall back from the chip to a swipe in ages, and I have a couple of cards, so I could keep one as a backup with a working stripe just in case (long ago I found myself far from home and low on gas, with no cash, a dead cell phone and a “suspicious transaction” blocked credit card, and I’d rather not repeat that experience).
- throwaway42968 3y ago
  It's only an issue with EMV Fallback, which you'd probably not need if you have a backup card that is good. Basically if the chip or near-field antenna on your card fail, the fallback is to collect a magnetic stripe read. Properly-configured readers don't need the stripe read to complete a transaction.
  - gorkish 3y ago
    Properly configured merchants don't even need the payment terminal to complete a transaction. They should be able to key the card number if all else fails. I say corrupt your magstrip if it makes you feel better.
loeg 3y ago
I think there are also just lots of POS systems in the US that aren't on EMV yet. Major retailers are on EMV but random old rural businesses probably aren't.
- reaperducer 3y ago
  Some big chains still haven't switched. I was in a major home improvement store a few weeks ago, and it was swipe-only. Either Home Depot or Lowe's.
  - lowmagnet 3y ago
    wal-mart has emv, but no radio-based payment
  - gorkish 3y ago
    Lowe's. Lord help the poor souls who maintain that system; it looks like the kind of thing that's just chock full of COBOL.
- MBCook 3y ago
  Plus lots of cards without EMV at all, usually gift cards or until recently EBT.

macNchz 3y ago

Makes me think about intentionally corrupting the magstripe on my cards. I wonder if that’d cause any issues. I can’t remember having to fall back from the chip to a swipe in ages, and I have a couple of cards, so I could keep one as a backup with a working stripe just in case (long ago I found myself far from home and low on gas, with no cash, a dead cell phone and a “suspicious transaction” blocked credit card, and I’d rather not repeat that experience).

throwaway42968 3y ago
It's only an issue with EMV Fallback, which you'd probably not need if you have a backup card that is good. Basically if the chip or near-field antenna on your card fail, the fallback is to collect a magnetic stripe read. Properly-configured readers don't need the stripe read to complete a transaction.
- gorkish 3y ago
  Properly configured merchants don't even need the payment terminal to complete a transaction. They should be able to key the card number if all else fails. I say corrupt your magstrip if it makes you feel better.

loeg 3y ago

I think there are also just lots of POS systems in the US that aren't on EMV yet. Major retailers are on EMV but random old rural businesses probably aren't.

reaperducer 3y ago
Some big chains still haven't switched. I was in a major home improvement store a few weeks ago, and it was swipe-only. Either Home Depot or Lowe's.
- lowmagnet 3y ago
  wal-mart has emv, but no radio-based payment
- gorkish 3y ago
  Lowe's. Lord help the poor souls who maintain that system; it looks like the kind of thing that's just chock full of COBOL.
MBCook 3y ago
Plus lots of cards without EMV at all, usually gift cards or until recently EBT.