Payment Methods

[sgrizzle]

I don't use credit cards, but I do have debit cards and use them as well as cash. Obviously it's hard to feed cash into Amazon.com and iTunes so I can't go cash-only and my debit cards usually give me some sort of discount (5% off at Target using their card, 1.5% cash back on everything else using another card)

After having my debit card stolen again a few weeks ago (via a swiper or something) I have been paying a lot of attention to how often I hand someone my card (a practice that basically only exists in the U.S.) I'm really getting tired of constantly having to change my billing information on websites when my card gets snatched and I'm looking at more future tech (chipped cards, and contactless payments)

I have seen a few chipped card registers, (you insert the card into a slot, it is usually a separate slot from the swiper) and have seen several contactless ones here locally including Walgreens, Reasor's and Braum's. So far I've liked the contactless payments I've made and think it's pretty cool.

I have been following the news around "CurrenC" which is a new payment method that sound ludicrous, backed by such gems of corporations as Walmart and CVS. CurrenC requires you to give the entire network direct access to your bank account, personal information and shopping history in exchange for a payment method that involves about 5 steps and sounds slower and more complicated than writing a check in an earthquake.

Anyone else have any thoughts around the various (non-cash) payment methods?

[Conan71]

I have no trouble using credit cards personally.  I don't know if I'm just damn lucky or what.  Whenever the credit card company has suspected a breach such as the Target breach, they sent out a new card.  That's happened maybe twice in the last five years.  One habit I've gotten into though, is if I use one card for automated payments like Pikepass or auto-renew subscriptions, eBay fees, etc. it never leaves the house.  I have a few other cards I use for brick and mortar purchases just in case it gets compromised so I don't have to change account info with anyone over a breach.

[Red Arrow]

I have been following the news around "CurrenC" which is a new payment method that sound ludicrous, backed by such gems of corporations as Walmart and CVS. CurrenC requires you to give the entire network direct access to your bank account, personal information and shopping history in exchange for a payment method that involves about 5 steps and sounds slower and more complicated than writing a check in an earthquake.

One would have to be totally insane to do that.

Anyone else have any thoughts around the various (non-cash) payment methods?

I admit to sill living in the 20th Century.  My father had a bad experience with the Wall Street Journal and American Express in the 90s.  He agreed to a trial subscription to the WSJ with automatic billing through his AmEx card. He decided to end the subscription after the trial period.  WSJ didn't want to end the subscription. AmEx said he authorized automatic payments.  After about 1-1/2 years, he finally got the subscription stopped.  I would have thought that WSJ and AmEx would have honored his desires immediately.   As a result, the ONLY place I have given automatic billing to my credit card is Pike Pass.  I did that on the premise that they wouldn't care one way or the other if I decided to turn in my Pike Pass and terminate my "subscription".  Life is getting a bit more difficult but if I cannot talk to someone on the phone, they don't get my business.

[TheArtist]

Just checked my wallet.  Have 8 Credit and or Debit cards in my wallet, and a couple more I don't carry around. Two businesses, each with at least one CC and debit card, the museum card, personal accounts, joint accounts.  Have never had any problem.

We have a chip CC reader at DECOPOLIS and a lot of people don't even know what it is.  Remember when I was in the UK for a while last year, some places had a hard time using my old magnetic swipe cards for it seems nobody uses them there anymore but use the chip technology and the shops would always ask me "Isn't that unsafe to use those?" like I was from some backwater, third world country.

  We are supposed to be getting "Coin" here soon.  Saw them at market a while back and decided to give it a try.  Essentially you put all your CC'ds on one card, yaaaaay! That will be so much easier than hauling around 8 or so cards all the time.  But not sure whether they will have chip technology or just the swipe.

[Breadburner]

I like CIFF........

[sgrizzle]

I like CIFF........

Cleveland International Film Festival?

[BKDotCom]

currentC is a joke and has already had a small breach

basically..   walmart and the other members of currentC are wanting to do their own thing rather than accept apple-pay and the payment methods people want to use.

[Breadburner]

Cleveland International Film Festival?

Cash In Fu....g Fist......!!!

[Gaspar]

Just checked my wallet.  Have 8 Credit and or Debit cards in my wallet, and a couple more I don't carry around. Two businesses, each with at least one CC and debit card, the museum card, personal accounts, joint accounts.  Have never had any problem.

We have a chip CC reader at DECOPOLIS and a lot of people don't even know what it is.  Remember when I was in the UK for a while last year, some places had a hard time using my old magnetic swipe cards for it seems nobody uses them there anymore but use the chip technology and the shops would always ask me "Isn't that unsafe to use those?" like I was from some backwater, third world country.

  We are supposed to be getting "Coin" here soon.  Saw them at market a while back and decided to give it a try.  Essentially you put all your CC'ds on one card, yaaaaay! That will be so much easier than hauling around 8 or so cards all the time.  But not sure whether they will have chip technology or just the swipe.

We support hundreds of retailers across the US and Canada. We implement the Genius platform with our POS systems because it offers our clients the widest array of payment options, and the retailers get the flexibility to create their own loyalty and gift offerings.

By the end of 2015 the typical plastic credit card will no longer be compliant with Chip & Pin requirements, so I expect we will see the vast majority of people either turning to a NFC payment option like Google Wallet or ApplePay. All of our systems already accept the new payment methods.

We've done some research on Coin, but there are a few issues that have kept it's release pushed back, and now look like they will prevent it from actually becoming a marketable product. 

One of the new Chip & Pin requirements (that we already know of), is the requirement to enter a pin# for every transaction.  Currently, the only way Coin has to support this is by wireless connection to your smartphone.  If the consumer has to open an app on her/his smartphone to use Coin, why not just use Google Wallet, PayPal, ApplePay or one of a growing number of other NFC payment apps that does not require an additional piece of hardware?  The other option Coin has is to put an encrypted keypad on the card itself.

Because Coin (and another system called "Plastic") is currently designed to store and magnetically transmit multiple account information, it will have to do so in an encrypted manner, meaning that retailers will not just be able to simply accept a Coin card like a credit card.  There will be at least firmware upgrade necessary (and for some on older systems, a hardware upgrade) to read this type of card.

For the majority of our hardware suppliers, the magnetic strip reader is not expected to be a part of future hardware, except for the purpose of reading gift/loyalty/membership cards. While we don't have all of the details on the new Chip & Pin requirements yet, we do know that the storage of unencrypted credit card information on a magnetic strip will likely end, if not in 2015, most certainly within the next couple of years.

Unfortunately for Coin, I think they were too late to the party, and simply don't have a piece of hardware flexible enough to compete with apps that don't require any other hardware. If they are able to bring a product to market (and we know that they are still taking pre-orders to do so) they will need to do it FAST, because it will be obsolete within a year or two.

It's just too early to know what will meet compliance for Chip & Pin, but I have a conference in March where we hope to get some additional details.

[rebound]

currentC is a joke and has already had a small breach

basically..   walmart and the other members of currentC are wanting to do their own thing rather than accept apple-pay and the payment methods people want to use.

The main reason WalMart and others are trying to set up CurrentC is to get around credit charges.  CurrentC does not support CCs and goes straight to the users' checking account.  CurrentC is a flawed concept, and badly designed on top of that.  I don't know if Apple Pay will win the fight on this, but CurrentC will definitely lose.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/25/currentc/

"Long before Apple Pay, big brick-and-mortar retail chains were conspiring to sidestep the typical 2% to 3% fees they're charged by credit card companies when consumers pay with credit."

[sgrizzle]

Laundromat by my house is advertising they accept apple pay (which basically just means they have NFC)

[heironymouspasparagus]

Have used WalMart gift cards for several years to get funding to kids from time to time.  They have been making changes to their system last few months and it is totally hosed right now.

So, I sent an email to customer service asking when it would be fixed.  After 6 days....about a half dozen emails from them saying nothing beyond they just don't know.... I received this last one on Tuesday afternoon.  After that - crickets....  they are no longer responding to emails - and no, I am not being my normal "here" self - I am politely asking when it will be fixed.
Copy and paste of their note to me, so no confusion.  Seems to be from someone who doesn't have a full grasp of English language nuance....


"We understand your concern. Unfortunately, due to system limitations, we are not aware on when this is going to be working smoothly."

[sgrizzle]

Have used WalMart gift cards for several years to get funding to kids from time to time.  They have been making changes to their system last few months and it is totally hosed right now.

So, I sent an email to customer service asking when it would be fixed.  After 6 days....about a half dozen emails from them saying nothing beyond they just don't know.... I received this last one on Tuesday afternoon.  After that - crickets....  they are no longer responding to emails - and no, I am not being my normal "here" self - I am politely asking when it will be fixed.
Copy and paste of their note to me, so no confusion.  Seems to be from someone who doesn't have a full grasp of English language nuance....


"We understand your concern. Unfortunately, due to system limitations, we are not aware on when this is going to be working smoothly."

I work tech support. I can translate.
It is broken. We understand it is broken but we have no idea why it is broken. We can't tell you how long it is going to take to fix because we don't know what is wrong with it. Also, we cannot tell you how long it will be until we figure out what is wrong with it.

[Red Arrow]

I work tech support. I can translate.
It is broken. We understand it is broken but we have no idea why it is broken. We can't tell you how long it is going to take to fix because we don't know what is wrong with it. Also, we cannot tell you how long it will be until we figure out what is wrong with it.

Your answer is technically correct, however, the proper answer is always "Tomorrow".

[Ed W]

"The parts are backordered. We don't know when they'll be avaliable. "

Ed W