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Europe's Square

izettle.com

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Re: Europe's Square

#51

Post by simonw »

oliwarner wrote: post #41
rmc wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heads up, If you're an American going to Europe, regular swipe only credit cards won't work as often here. Nearly all point-of-sale credit card machines require chip & pin. Or you'll wind up like some tourists in my local supermarket unable to use their credit card.

This is nonsense (at least in the UK and France). Yes there is preference for chip & pin but every reader I've seen supports swipe & sign still. Chips break, contacts corrode. It's there as a backup. (And yes, this totally defeats the security aspect of C&P)

"(And yes, this totally defeats the security aspect of C&P)"

As I understand it, C&P isn't meant to be more secure for users - it's meant to be more "secure" for banks, since if someone fakes your signature it's not your fault (and the bank has to swallow the loss), but if someone gets hold of your PIN it IS your fault.

Re: Europe's Square

#53

Post by ralphsaunders »

thatjoshguy wrote: post #49
objclxt wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good example of this is the Apple Stores in Europe: like in the US, staff use iPods to take orders and checkout. The difference is when it comes to payment: instead of swiping the credit card and signing on the iPod screen, transaction details are wirelessly sent to one of many Chip & PIN readers around the store, and you then complete your purchase there.

Do they go to cashwrap, or do they have just 'standalone' chip+pin terminals in the store?

In an Apple store they're often portable.

Re: Europe's Square

#54

Post by sparknlaunch12 »

Really like efforts to make payments and secure transactions easier however not sure how this will compete with the big boys (banks etc).

For example Visa offer contact less payments for merchants via pay wave.

Barclays have payments from your smart phone via ping it.

Then there is nfc technology.

Just trying to test the longevity of this product. Does it alleviate the pain of using a card and remembering a pin.

Edit: also worth mentioning Paypal, Barclays Paytag.

Re: Europe's Square

#55

Post by fauldsh »

oliwarner wrote: post #41
rmc wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heads up, If you're an American going to Europe, regular swipe only credit cards won't work as often here. Nearly all point-of-sale credit card machines require chip & pin. Or you'll wind up like some tourists in my local supermarket unable to use their credit card.

This is nonsense (at least in the UK and France). Yes there is preference for chip & pin but every reader I've seen supports swipe & sign still. Chips break, contacts corrode. It's there as a backup. (And yes, this totally defeats the security aspect of C&P)

I used to work in a small supermarket, towards the end of last year we were being directed not to accept credit cards.

Re: Europe's Square

#56

Post by yesbabyyes »

anemic wrote: post #47

I have one reader connected to my ipad. Got it for free so I had to try it. I have accepted only one payment so far so not much experience about it, but some comments: For private individuals a facebook account is needed to accept payments. The legal agreement is a mess, they even warn that your data can be transferred to countries where privacy laws are not in par with european standards and data is stored for 7 yea…

> The customer must sign the transaction on the ipad screen with finger (even harder with iphone). it's very hard to check that to the signature on the back of the card.

In my experience, signing works really well. Also, in Sweden nobody checks the signature. I don't even bother signing my card, and I can't understand how anybody can read the signature on the card. I think it's happened once that someone's wanted to check my signature against the card.

Re: Europe's Square

#57

Post by masklinn »

oliwarner wrote: post #41
rmc wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heads up, If you're an American going to Europe, regular swipe only credit cards won't work as often here. Nearly all point-of-sale credit card machines require chip & pin. Or you'll wind up like some tourists in my local supermarket unable to use their credit card.

This is nonsense (at least in the UK and France). Yes there is preference for chip & pin but every reader I've seen supports swipe & sign still. Chips break, contacts corrode. It's there as a backup. (And yes, this totally defeats the security aspect of C&P)

> Yes there is preference for chip & pin but every reader I've seen supports swipe & sign still.

Many automated machines (e.g. gas stations) don't support swipe at all, only chip & pin.

And in Belgium, most of the terminals in smaller shop seem to be swipe-less, they're pretty big square things and only have a slot for chip-based (above the screen rather than below), no swipe slot.

Re: Europe's Square

#59

Post by trin_ »

jermaink wrote: post #31
tomp wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean? iSettle's and Square's websites look just as much alike as any recent startups'...

Honestly, I tend to say that the website clearly shows a lot (!) of elements and interactions that are derived from Square. And it does not look like a co-existent happenstance.

certain product-websites tend to converge ... not because noone is creative but they work. there's absolutely no sense for them to create a totally different page that may not work as good just because they want to be different.

Re: Europe's Square

#60

Post by objclxt »

thatjoshguy wrote: post #49
objclxt wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good example of this is the Apple Stores in Europe: like in the US, staff use iPods to take orders and checkout. The difference is when it comes to payment: instead of swiping the credit card and signing on the iPod screen, transaction details are wirelessly sent to one of many Chip & PIN readers around the store, and you then complete your purchase there.

Do they go to cashwrap, or do they have just 'standalone' chip+pin terminals in the store?

They have stand-alone ones around the store, often in corners or out of sight near main display units.
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