Contactless cards

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I still don't understand why dining restaurants can't get a handheld terminal that they can bring to the table to settle the bill and print the receipt.  Except for maybe cost of the handheld.

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There are various factors but I think the biggest are a) chip and signature makes them very hard to justify given the tight margins in the industry and b) a fair number of customers might actually dislike them. However, at least with contactless cards servers could in theory just tap for customers instead of inserting; phones/watches OTOH would definitely require something accessible to customers.

[VanderSnoot]

This thread got me to finally download pay apps and add my contactless cards (5 out of 10 are contactless, but I only added 4, and can only imagine using 1). I even watched a video so I don't look like a complete moron trying to scan my phone.

I also feel like I live in a Black Mirror episode where this convenience is traded for data-mining and more targeted attempts to wrest money from my wallet.

[icednightpaper]

It's nice to see that Discover is finally getting (back?) into it. The more issuers that get with it, the better. Although despite my earlier ramblings I highly doubt we'll see (particulary) American restaurants actually upgrade. It's just too easy to not spend the money on new tech/upgrades, plus our society is conditioned to see people disappear with our credit cards for unspecified lengths of times.

Now could the frequenting of places like Chilis/TGIs and fast-casual dining speed this process along? Yes but that does limit one's options.