A question for your Europeans about credit cards

Or everybody could just pay with cash and be done with it. My cash transactions are faster than everything except the tap and go. But the only places around here where I actually see that are gas stations and McDonalds .
I like paying with cash. I only have credit cards for investment reasons. Why use other peoples money to buy stupid worthless crap when you can invest it instead with no interest for 12-24 months at a time?

a reply to: deadlyhope

In the little island where I live we have cards that have the magnetic stripe and embedded chip contacts and near-field communications capability ('swipe', 'contacts' & 'tap n' go').

Have had for some years.

Basically, regardless of the terminal type (because some retailers can't justify the cost of NFC readers, and some customers don't trust them) we can transact business.

I don't have a real credit card. I actually have to have some balance in my bank account for the payment to work out. Up until 25 euros, i can just put my card near the side of the card reading machine and it is all good then. If the total sum is more than 25 euros, then i insert the card into the machine and it asks my PIN.

Who in the F needs credit cards? I've never had one, never will.

I've lived in Europe for 27 years, and never had a slide card. You slipped it into a slot and used the pin code.
When I got here I had a slide card from the US, and some machines couldn't handle that.
At the time, nobody wanted to use the slide system here because they didn't feel it safe (without a pin code).


Now, our cards have chips and you just hold it over the scanner for two seconds and it is done.

a reply to: deadlyhope

There is a big security risk when using only magnetic strips on a credit cards. Cracking magnetic only (no chip) cards are easy and can be purchased online. You can purchase both sides of a credit card today (a good one) V1 and V2 side for less than $25.00.

The American credit card is a dinosaur....technology is making it harder for the criminals...online verification by (PIN) is the safest way to pay when using a credit card in public.

a reply to: MaestroMind

You can hate cards and smartphones all you want but the tech will simply keep progressing and leave you behind. And hey, i love a holding a fat wad of cash as much as anybody. Just the feel of it alone makes one a 'baller' with sudden confidence.

Either way, when it comes to cards the ones with chips are much safer. They generate and utilize a one time transaction key for each purpose which gets verified on both ends and wont go through again.

And it sucks in a way but a cashless society is already coming soon. Just wait until the various governments start issueing their own state cryptocurrencies. Thatll be the end for cash as we know it right there. They may have some exclusions allowed for the old folk but otherwise itll be a no go.

And like i said I love a big wad of cash in my pocket but I also hate lugging around and sitting on a fat wallet full of plastic and paper all day. It is uncomfortable and bad for your back. Pinches the sciatic nerve.

And you may have to come around to smartphones. While they are little menaces when it comes to surveillance of tracking they are also certainly not overrated. Right now I am posting to ATS while lying down in bed and catching up on pretty much all my affairs and the news at once! Cant do that as comfortably even with a laptop. I get the fear but it is what it is. The new world is constantly further developing tech.

Even cards will go away for the most part in decades to come. Everything will all just be keys and codes accessed on your smartphone through various apps. Some hotels now even give you a key on your smartphone to use to scan and open your room door instead of a physical card key.

It is scary in terms of hackers scammers out there as well as government tracking but it is what it is. You can fight it tooth and nail but it wont matter.

Better to just start learning proper technical security methods and defenses.

Or ya know go live off the grid if that suits your fancy. Not much in between soon enough.

a reply to: deadlyhope
I have a debit card, rather than a credit card. The standard procedure has been to insert card into slot, and then tap in the PIN number. Recently they have introduced "contactless" payment; you just wave the card in front of the reader and payment is made. This is supposed to be more convenient. I hate it, because it must make life too easy for card thieves. I don't use it myself, but that won't help if the card gets lost.

I was really shocked when I was living in LA how easy it was to use my friends credit cards. Just take them, they said, swipe them and scribble a random signature, and it will be fine, they don't check.

And it was true. Even using women's cards as a man, nobody in the stores ever checked. Just swipe, scribble, and done.

Thanks a lot for your help