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Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

nytimes.com

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Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#371

Post by stephen_g »

mulmen wrote: post #146
sleet wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It amazes me that cheques are still used. I'm 36 and I've never issued a cheque, I think I was issued a cheque book with my first account but never used it.

They can be pretty handy. I don't have a physical checkbook and that causes problems for me once or twice a year. Typically when I am buying motorcycles. Those transactions tend to take place on weekends when my bank is closed and for amounts larger than my ATM cash withdrawal limit. They also tend to occur with parties that do not accept electronic payment methods.

I think the "parties not accepting electronic methods" bit is more surprising to people in places with more modern banking systems...

In Australia you can hardly buy anything anymore with ordinary cheques (you can still use a bank cheque for a car from a dealer or deposit on a house something, but that's the kind that you go to the bank, pay a fee and they print it out).

Hardly any private seller for a car or anything would ever take a cheque though - it's mostly always electronic. This year they're bringing in a real-time system (the current one is free overnight transfer to other banks and immediate for the same bank) which you can send people money immediately with just a mobile number.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#372

Post by Amezarak »

thomasahle wrote: post #297
rokhayakebe wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I like tipping. I think people should still be paid well, but let me tip on top of it if I wish.

It's actually somewhat infantilizing to tip someone, unless they need it to be paid. You would never give a lawyer, consultant or someone else "respected" in society "2 dollars to buy something nice". Tipping is a very in the face sign of inequality and really needs to die (as soon as the inequality is gone of course).

It's interesting that this opinion is shared by pretty much zero servers.

Servers (I was one) love tipping because, generally speaking, though there may be ups and downs, you are making tremendously more money than you would be otherwise (in the kitchen, for example) and often tax-free.

A lot of complaints about the "awkwardness" of it pop up in threads like this, which just makes me wonder if the increasingly transactional nature of society makes people less socially developed. Otherwise, many of the comments are about "helping" the servers, who, I assure you, do not want this "help."

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#373

Post by JoeAltmaier »

gambiting wrote: post #365
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to you I guess. The server has only a very fixed opportunity to get tipped in a shift. To miss out on one is actually significant. Not to mention depressing.

And what am I supposed to do about it? My point is - in US not tipping felt like being an absolute asshole, to a point where people would be upset - they grew up in a culture that values money above all else and not being tipped is I don't know, an equivalent of being spat in the face? In UK I've never felt that way. I've had perfectly good meals that I didn't tip on, just like I did in France, Spain or Germany and i…

So its not up to you to enter a restaurant prepared to pay for the meal? You can do lots about it; in fact nobody else but you can do anything about it.

I'd rant about "this generation is so entitled" but hey that post says it all.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#374

Post by lh7777 »

criddell wrote: post #368
jimnotgym wrote: post #240

In the UK cards moved to 'chip and pin' in 2006! Fraud in a 'customer present' scenario is very low at our stores. The last fraud in fact was a foreign card that didn't support chip and pin. I can't believe Visa and MasterCard have not made it mandatory world wide... ...except card fraud lossed are recharged to the merchant so perhaps they don't care? Out of interest there is a special exception for disabled people w…

I was just looking for a chip-and-pin card that I (as an American) could get for traveling to the UK and apparently there really isn't much out there. I think all of the US cards that support chip and pin prioritize signature over pin. I also found this Visa page explaining that PIN isn't used in the US because it's too expensive: https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/security/the-cost-of-pi...

FirstTech's credit card is PIN priority. I've only used it in Canada so far, but it works as expected there.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#375

Post by cjrp »

kozhevnikov wrote: post #321
criddell wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm visiting London this summer (I'm from Texas). Normally, I pay for everything with American Express. Would you recommend I get a different card for London? I wonder if there's a US card that support chip and pin?

A lot of businesses in the UK/Europe do not accept American Express due to higher fees. You would be better off getting a different card preferably that supports contactless payments so you could use it on the tube and buses instead of an Oyster card (remember to touch it on the way out as well). https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/contactless

A Revolut card supports chip and pin and contactless, I'm not sure if it's 100% launched for US customers yet though: https://www.revolut.com/us/

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#377

Post by tssva »

gambiting wrote: post #365
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to you I guess. The server has only a very fixed opportunity to get tipped in a shift. To miss out on one is actually significant. Not to mention depressing.

And what am I supposed to do about it? My point is - in US not tipping felt like being an absolute asshole, to a point where people would be upset - they grew up in a culture that values money above all else and not being tipped is I don't know, an equivalent of being spat in the face? In UK I've never felt that way. I've had perfectly good meals that I didn't tip on, just like I did in France, Spain or Germany and i…

The reaction in the US isn't based upon some cultural obsession with money. Wait staff in the US is paid differently than in other countries. Wait staff in the US is largely paid the minimum hourly rate for tipped employees which is $2.13 an hour. It is expected that the majority of their income will be earned through tips.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#378

Post by kasey_junk »

dtech wrote: post #342
criddell wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm visiting London this summer (I'm from Texas). Normally, I pay for everything with American Express. Would you recommend I get a different card for London? I wonder if there's a US card that support chip and pin?

Credit cards in general are not too popular in Europe, they're either not accepted at all or only Visa and Mastercard are accepted. A Maestro debit card is your best bet and will work in almost all terminals in Europe.

This is not at all true of London. Last time I was there I didn’t even get local currency as I used credit for everything.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#379

Post by hackeyed »

criddell wrote: post #368
jimnotgym wrote: post #240

In the UK cards moved to 'chip and pin' in 2006! Fraud in a 'customer present' scenario is very low at our stores. The last fraud in fact was a foreign card that didn't support chip and pin. I can't believe Visa and MasterCard have not made it mandatory world wide... ...except card fraud lossed are recharged to the merchant so perhaps they don't care? Out of interest there is a special exception for disabled people w…

I was just looking for a chip-and-pin card that I (as an American) could get for traveling to the UK and apparently there really isn't much out there. I think all of the US cards that support chip and pin prioritize signature over pin. I also found this Visa page explaining that PIN isn't used in the US because it's too expensive: https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/security/the-cost-of-pi...

Might check some of the credit unions you can join. I know at least FirstTech uses chip and pin for their credit cards.

Re: Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S

#380

Post by skeletal88 »

arghwhat wrote: post #353
lucozade wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It benefits only consumers, while costing the banks and payment providers Hogwash. Yes I know all bankers live in extinct volcanoes but one thing they know a lot about is money. It is ridiculously expensive to support the US's conservatism when it comes to finance. The lack of chip and pin pales into insignificance compared to their addiction to paper checks, for example. It would be completely in the banks' intere…

> The lack of chip and pin pales into insignificance compared to their addiction to paper checks, for example. Paper checks are indeed a silly cost, but NFC provides banks no gain over chip. Chip provides gain over magnet stripe by basically rendering skimmers ineffective, but only basically in that credit card fraud is still a big business. Instead of skimmers, you use trojans or data leaks. Physical credit cards al…

The benefit of NFC for banks would be an image and PR boost, the bank could say that they are the hip and trendy bank, come to us. Then other banks would have to follow eventually.

Why else would banks in europe adopt NFC or contactless payments?

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