First direct not offering option of contactless free debit card

spacey2012

Without mentioning names, a mobile phone app for a certain phone could copy the card details and replicate it back via the phone using nfc.
It has put the fear of God in to the banks who again opted for poor security.

Hominu

Cloudane wrote: »

I thought the whole point of this contactless thing was to eventually replace cash (which would be nice - I have to get mine over the counter in the morning because my chip is worn out). It will absolutely fail if places do minimum transactions.

Unless they are processing millions of transactions and can process in batches like certain supermarkets, then the amount it costs to process a contactless payment for a 69p sausage roll is significant. The amount it costs them to process a 69p cash transaction is insignificant in comparison. Once you get to the likes of £5 or so, it becomes practical.

spacey2012 wrote: »

Without mentioning names, a mobile phone app for a certain phone could copy the card details and replicate it back via the phone using nfc.
It has put the fear of God in to the banks who again opted for poor security.

That app only works on certain (older) cards and not the newer cards.

dalesrider

Hominu wrote: »

Unless they are processing millions of transactions and can process in batches like certain supermarkets, then the amount it costs to process a contactless payment for a 69p sausage roll is significant. The amount it costs them to process a 69p cash transaction is insignificant in comparison. Once you get to the likes of £5 or so, it becomes practical. .

Most retailer will process contactless in batches.
Given that many smaller retailer are now starting to take contactless. The charges must be a lot lower that taking a PIN transaction.

The added bonus of contactless is greater staff security (no large amounts of cash on premises) Less handling costs for the counting, keeping float levels correct. As well as less banking charges for the above cash handling.

reclusive46

dalesrider wrote: »

Most retailer will process contactless in batches.
Given that many smaller retailer are now starting to take contactless. The charges must be a lot lower that taking a PIN transaction.

The added bonus of contactless is greater staff security (no large amounts of cash on premises) Less handling costs for the counting, keeping float levels correct. As well as less banking charges for the above cash handling.

The interchange for contactless transactions is lower for Visa, MasterCard and American Express (Amex sometimes offers no fees on contactless transactions when signing up for 12 months).

Hominu

reclusive46 wrote: »

The interchange for contactless transactions is lower for Visa, MasterCard and American Express (Amex sometimes offers no fees on contactless transactions when signing up for 12 months).

I agree, but the payment processor used can charge wildly different fees, and here the cost for a contactless transaction may be the same as that for a PIN transaction.

I remember the local newsagent showing me a form whilst we were discussing it and it stated 3.5% + 20p regardless of card type or method. They change this into a fixed 50p charge for debit/credit cards and it works out overall.

reclusive46

Hominu wrote: »

I agree, but the payment processor used can charge wildly different fees, and here the cost for a contactless transaction may be the same as that for a PIN transaction.

I remember the local newsagent showing me a form whilst we were discussing it and it stated 3.5% + 20p regardless of card type or method. They change this into a fixed 50p charge for debit/credit cards and it works out overall.

3.5%!!!! He's being ripped off.

pmduk

reclusive46 wrote: »

3.5%!!!! He's being ripped off.

Banks ripping off small traders with little bargaining power? surely not!

katejo

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Forgive me, I am confused!

You have a non-contactless FD card, and FD told you they cannot give you a contactless, is that right?

Did you ask them why they cannot give you a contactless card?

(PS: I only use FD for their Regular Saver myself)

I had a FD non contactless until March when it had to be replaced and the new one is contactless but I have barely used it . I haven't had any problems with accidental payments

Hominu

reclusive46 wrote: »

3.5%!!!! He's being ripped off.

Not for the amount of transactions that are processed each month.

This was a one-off charge for the machine, no rental fee, no ongoing or minimum fees and non dedicated telephone line (shared with standard phone line - it dials a number for each transaction, so can take 60+ seconds to process a payment).

Compare this with the alternative which can get you 2.5% and fixed fee for debit cards but also a monthly rental and/or dedicated phone line and it actually becomes more expensive.