Conactless credit cards....forward or backward step?

[nickyboy]

I can't remember the last time I paid with a credit or debit card, online purchases excepted. But then I'm self employed, paid in cash so I always make sure I keep enough back each week for day to day purchases.

The only time I use cash now is in dodgy boozers that don't have a card machine and little odds and ends like a stamp. Other than that I use contactless for everything less than £30 and Chip&PIN for everything over £30

The real question is the adoption of mobile payment systems like Apple Pay. Some countries that don't have a history of Credit/Debit Cards have jumped straight from cash to Mobile. Apple Pay penetration in a small town like where I live is low but I think in major cities it is a common way to pay these days

 

[Pale Rider]

how can scammers read the card? Do they have to wave a special device over my pocket regions?

I think that's about the strength of it, so you are particularly at risk in busy places such as railway stations where a person passing close to you is unlikely to arouse suspicion.

 

[Adam4868]

You can get a little wallet to put them in to stop this.Apparently,my other half has one.I'm strictly cash only.Only ever use a card when I have to.Search contactless card wallet on fleabay,think there a quid or so.

 

[Andrew_P]

They can do it with their phone and then use it within an app I think. I wasn't sure how likely it would happen to be honest. I am surprised that normal Bank accounts with or without an overdraft do not phone home more often and at least check the user knows the pin. Again the feature on the Barclays account is that it will fail contactless randomly and force a chip and pin payment. I assume this is a further sercurity check and I assume if the pin number is failed the card gets blocked. I don't ever recall my HSBC failing a contactless and forcing a pin.

 

[NorthernDave]

I don't have a contactless debit card as my bank won't provide one unless I change to a 'premium' account. 'Premium' being the correct word as they'd want me to pay a premium every month for the privilege of them using my money while I'm not doing anything with it....

I do have contactless credit card though and it's handy when it works, although the failure rate appears to be about 1 in 3 attempts.

I like contactless and use it a lot even for small transactions. I did consider Android pay but I can't bring myself to give Skynet my credit cards.

Don't worry - they already know all about your credit cards and much, much more...

It’s brilliiant for weatherspoons you seem to spend less as I used to get the cash out and wither that away on other crap

Have you not got the 'spoons app? Order food (yeah, right...) and drinks direct to your table without ever having to fight through the scrum at the bar. If it wasn't for comfort breaks you wouldn't have to leave your seat all morning.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

So far I've kept money and banking of my phone and tablet, I'm not sure how secure it is. I like the contactless card but recon its too easy, I know the limit is thirty quid but a few thirty quids soon add up and it would be easy to lose track of how much you're spending

After 3 contactless transactions in a row it requires a chip and pin transaction.

 

[Lullabelle]

I don't like it, for starters as mentioned by @dave r you can get a lot of £30 transactions squeezed into a day, a friend's daughter recently lost hers and by the time she realised closed to £300 was gone from her account. I also don't like how its a big step towards a cashless society and having every transaction you make tracked/recorded/monitored.

It is a bit odd that you have a limit of £30.00 yet you can spend that as often as you want during the same day it is good, quick and easy yet so open to abuse.

 

[smutchin]

if you were to find one what's to stop you keep going and spending 29 quid in various shops ?

The fact that I’m not a thieving scrote, perhaps.

But I appreciate that others might not share my scruples. That being the case, the sensible thing to do would be to have an account for daily expenses with a small balance that you top up regularly, and keep the bulk of your wealth in a separate account for which you don’t have a contactless card.

 

[NorthernDave]

[QUOTE 5031152, member: 45"]McDonalds asks you for your pin every so often when you use their ordering screens. But I wouldn't expect you to know that.
[/QUOTE]

Risking going off-topic, but have you noticed how those order screens in the Golden Arches mean it actually takes noticeably longer to get your McBacon Roll meal on a morning now..?

 

[MontyVeda]

Mine doesn't.

mine neither... it's very random, i'd guess once every three or four weeks, after god knows how many contactless payments.

 

[smutchin]

You don't want it, I'll have it.

You want an old 50p piece? It’s not even worth its weight in scrap metal.

 

[Pale Rider]

A few on here have suggested the OP is behind the times.

Tesco recently renewed my credit card and it isn't contactless, although my Barclays current account card is.

I don't recall being offered a contactless option by Tesco, although I don't pay much attention to stuff like that, so there may be a choice somewhere on the website.

Always assuming you can get contactless credit cards.

 

[mcshroom]

The fact that I’m not a thieving scrote, perhaps.

But I appreciate that others might not share my scruples. That being the case, the sensible thing to do would be to have an account for daily expenses with a small balance that you top up regularly, and keep the bulk of your wealth in a separate account for which you don’t have a contactless card.

That's pretty much how I've ended up using mine after getting a Revolut card to go on holiday but I found I liked it enough to keep using it. The card is a prepay Mastercard that's linked to a phone app, so I keep a balance on the card, topping up from my bank account when needed.

There's also the extra features in the app where you can tie it to your phone's location, and where you can turn off contactless (and chip&pin, internet purchases or the magstripe) instantly from the app, and then turn it back on again later. Or where it flashes up a notification on the phone every time you use it.

The downside is that it doesn't do the credit type payments such as 'pay at pump', where the machine gives you a credit value and then charges the card later. That's rarely an issue though.

The card feels far more secure than carrying cash around, where if it's lost then that's it.

 

[classic33]

You want an old 50p piece? It's not even worth its weight in scrap metal.

I was thinking more this bit in bold!

I found an old 50p piece the other day. I was shocked at how chunky and heavy it seemed. I find it hard to imagine people used to go round with these huge lumps of metal weighing down their pockets.

The sooner we get rid of cash altogether the better.

 

[classic33]

I'll have you know I used one not so long ago. Some time in September I think.

What year?