MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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No reason why the van cannot have a card reader. Well – except for the fact the van would have to declare all its takings…
Yeah if the card reader runs on gas and can store all the details of the transactions till he gets back to mobile signal.
Definitely needs some education, not just for contactless etc. but for the whole online banking and smartphone app stuff.
I managed to lock myself out of my own bank account, just by getting a new phone, letting it migrate all the apps and data, and assuming it would all be fine. An hour in the actual bank branch, in a conference call with regional support team, and eventually it was me that sussed out why it wasn't working. If the bank lady wasn't able to help and didn't have that postgrad in mobile comms and cryptography that I did 3 decades ago (and presumably they must have some kind of bank staff training course?), then christ knows how a technophobe or non-technical person from an generation before me would cope with cashless and online banking only.
There's a reason I do all online stuff with one card/account, and atm/contactless etc. with another card/account, and that is it.
Cashless in Germany is now beginning to properly catch on at last. Only really in the last year where they stop taking the card from you to insert in to the machine in many places. Or even do chip+pin but still need to sign the slip! Been able to do contactless card/phone in the turnstile to go for a dump in the motorway services since before Apple/AndroidPay was live in Germany and before contactless cards were standard issue, but in store contactless has been rare. Although I note a lot of card terminals have the contactless bit on the side of the machine and have no prominent markings as to whether it is contactless enabled. Only really the last 6 months or so where I've observed other shoppers doing contactless. Cash really does rule, but it might just be catching up with about 2015 in the UK at last. If you have to put card in, wait, type in PIN, wait, take card out, sign as well, then you may as well pay cash. I certainly paid cash a lot more than when in UK.
Is contactless cheaper than chip and pin?
Depends on your payment provider. For us it is 1.0% on any payment type, any card.
More established payment providers like Barclaycard, Worldpay etc like to bamboozle you with very complicated payment plans, monthly fees, XXp per transaction plus a percentage, more for amex, extra 5p for this and that. You have you haggle with a salesman who wants to sign you up for years. By the end of it you've got no idea what it'll cost you overall.
Newer players in the market like izettle (now owned by PayPal) make it really simple by only charging a flat rate, you buy the card reader for £30 and you're away.
You see a lot of market traders with them just running off a smartphone, so completely wireless. No reason why Trail Rats kebab van couldn't have one.
The only disadvantage I can see is that strategic infrastructure is now in purely private hands with little oversight.
Agreed, I also feel uncomfortable about that! Not just the infrastructure but the transaction data is hugely valuable given they know everything about you from your card number and smartphone. I think there is more regulation coming in the EU. Who knows if we'll follow suit.
Cashless in Germany is now beginning to properly catch on at last
Only beginning. I went for a bit of a wander round Europe this summer. In Amsterdam we found many places that simply didn't take cash at all - some only accepted Maestro, which was a bit awkward. In Berlin and Dusseldorf most places were cash only.
We were skiing in Austria last year, like going back to the 70s, everything was cash only. Never taken so much out of cash points in a week before!
No reason why Trail Rats kebab van couldn’t have one.
except that unless a friendly local business lets him have access to their wireless network he has no signal at his pitch as shown by the fact that people in the queue are forced to chat to each other rather than start into their phones.
Also an issue for the pizza horse box we use that pitches up on saturdays at a local campsite in Glendye.
and thats known constants - throw in power cuts and network outages and we will be back on tally sticks before you know it.
given they know everything about you from your card number and smartphone.
Not if you use Google Pay (I also think Revolut and maybe Apple Pay but not sure) as they create a virtual card number that is used for the transactions so your real card number is never exposed:
From Nat West:
When you add a card to Google Pay, your card details are replaced with a virtual account number. Your virtual account number is unique and will not work outside of the Google Pay app. Whenever you pay with Google Pay, it is your virtual account number that is sent, not your card details.
Pretty cool and safe!
Just been to my local petrol station. They're having some works done there, bit of remodelling the forecourt and stuff but there were prominent notices on every pump saying they were unable to take card payments, cash only. The number of people driving in, getting out the car, picking the pump nozzle and then replacing it, getting back in the car and driving off was incredible.
There was quite a queue at the station cash machine too from people who'd obviously started filling before realising. I guess for relatively large payments like fuel, people just don't have that amount of cash to hand any more.