Contactless cards

[telstarbox]

The technology for contactless payment cards has been around for a few years and retailers such as Aldi and Eat have contactless card terminals, yet the cards don't seem to be in wide circulation. My bank (one of the largest retail banks) apparently offers the technology but when I was sent a new debit card a few months ago, it did not have the contactless facility.

It sounds very useful to be able to pay for small transactions using a method which is possibly even quicker than cash - TfL have started accepting contactless payment for bus fares - so why has contactless technology not been rolled out yet?

 

[maniacmartin]

It's not that useful at the moment as hardly any places accept it, and of those that do have the readers, half the time they don't work or staff don't know how to use them. I've had success at MacDonalds and M&S, and failures at Pret.

Ever since I've been given two by my bank though, I now have the code 71 at LU gates as it interferes with my Oyster.

 

[telstarbox]

It seems a bit chicken-and-egg: are banks waiting for shops to install the terminals before issuing the cards, or are shops waiting for demand from customers with cards before upgrading their checkouts?

 

[causton]

I think it's a bit of both really! Most shops probably don't care and they will probably only get it when a lot of people complain they don't have it (My local Superdrug and Co-op have contactless-ready readers but they are for some reason not configured to have it activated, so it just says Insert Card. My local Asda is the same but I went to one in London which had it enabled so I guess it is a trial thing in some companies - same with Wetherspoons!)

Some banks are really keen to roll it out e.g. Barclaycard with the PayTag (I have one and it is great ) but Halifax had no idea when they would roll it out with their current account when I asked a while back...

 

[jon0844]

I had trouble getting Lloyds to give me one. They said they couldn't change me to a contactless card and I'd have to wait until I was issued one automatically.

Then we agreed to try and ask for a replacement as if my card had been damaged. A few days later, behold, a contactless card arrived!

So even bank staff seem to know very little about them.

I did sign up for the Barclaycard One Pulse years ago though, so I did get to try it out when there were even fewer retailers accepting them (and they were only doing so as part of a trial in the part of London I worked in). I didn't like the fact my transactions were on credit, so now I have a debit card I use contactless whenever I can.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[WestCoast]

The Co-operative Bank are issuing them to current account holders, they sent me one when I opened my account. However, I haven't had the opportunity to use the facility yet.

Santander, on the other hand, I had to persuade them to give me a Debit Card which could be used offline, never mind a contactless card! :roll:

 

[maniacmartin]

Halifax had no idea when they would roll it out with their current account when I asked a while back...

A friend of mine has had one for over a year from Halifax. I have (or have previously had) contactless cards from Amex, MBNA and Co-op.

 

[starrymarkb]

I received my first contactless card a few months ago. Only contactless place I've seen is the self service robot tills at Boots.

 

[gazthomas]

A friend of mine has had one for over a year from Halifax. I have (or have previously had) contactless cards from Amex, MBNA and Co-op.

Bizarre, I've just had a new Halifax reward debit card and this doesn't have contact less.

 

[142094]

The new S&B ticket machines on the Tyne and Wear Metro have the facility, but it is not switched on yet. Not sure what the cost difference is between a bank ordering the 'normal' plastic cards and the one that have the contactless chip, but that may be a factor. I bet there are quite a few people who wouldn't use it, and therefore it would be a waste of money giving them a card with the new technology.

 

[D2022]

Has anyone seen these sticker things you can stick your phones and such for paying? They look mad and I can't work out how it works...NFC from the phone maybe?

 

[Lrd]

NFC from the phone maybe?

Correct, only a few phones have it at the mo.

 

[causton]

Has anyone seen these sticker things you can stick your phones and such for paying? They look mad and I can't work out how it works...NFC from the phone maybe?

Also incorrect, the stickers are just for any phone and the chip is in the sticker. The sticker is almost the thickness of a card and you use it just like a contactless card (I have one )
...if I had a better phone with NFC, I could also use that as a contactless card as posted above, but I believe only Barclaycard, Orange and one specific phone allow that at the moment!

 

[jon0844]

I think there are a few phones to choose from but they're all rather dull, old, handsets. The one exception being the Samsung Galaxy S III, with a limited edition model for the Olympics.

O2 was the first to trial with Barclaycard and Nokia but it can't have been that popular as I don't think they ever launched a commercial service.

The sticker idea seems rather odd as you could stick it to anything and you might as well just have an ordinary (contact less) card in most cases. Especially if you have more than one. I now have 6 or 7 NFC enabled cards in my wallet.

BTW, there's a cool Android app to read your passport and show your photo on the phone screen!

 

[SS4]

The Nexus 4 has NFC according to its menu but I'll be damned if I know how to use it! (On O2)

 

[Lrd]

Sony Xperia S has it, if the battery lasts long enough.

 

[jon0844]

Many phones have NFC now but few (barely any) allow wireless payments.

Of course there are many other uses, like using smart tags or quickly pairing with other devices to send data etc.

That and reading the content of cards (or the unencrypted bits at least). Checking the balance of your HK Octopus card for example - something you can't do with Oyster annoyingly.

Some of the ITSO smart cards for some TOCs can be managed by your phone though.