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There's a HUGE security benefit to going this way instead of continuing to use cards. Nutshell version: as is, much of the time, we hand our credit cards to complete strangers who then go away where we can't see them to process our purchase. They bring back a piece of paper that we sign, so we give those strangers our signature too.

Mobile "card-less" model: nothing leaves your possession. Your "card" (your phone) has something brought to it so that you can establish the connection to approve the transaction yourself. Your thumbprint or password is the replacement for your signature. The "stranger" doesn't get to see a card number, name, expiration date, security code or your signature; they just get a "transaction approved" validation.

While the latter is also not completely secure (nothing is), it would be a HUGE step toward reducing the ability for the less sophisticated identity thieves (which is most of them) to fake a transaction(s) as you.

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They need to steal your thumb and/or your password too.

If you're referring to restaurants, the US could join the rest of the modern world where waiters bring portable credit card readers to your table when you pay your bill so your card never leaves your sight.
 
I guess it makes sense they would eventually copy Google Wallet but I think doing it with Paypal is a mistake.
 
If you're referring to restaurants, the US could join the rest of the modern world where waiters bring portable credit card readers to your table when you pay your bill so your card never leaves your sight.

Ha! Maybe in 30 years. This is still the same country that uses paper cheques.
 
I'm not sure why anyone would be concerned that this could be a bad thing because your iPhone could get stolen. So can your credit card or wallet! This solution is probably even more secure, as iPhones are password-protected.
 
If you're referring to restaurants, the US could join the rest of the modern world where waiters bring portable credit card readers to your table when you pay your bill so your card never leaves your sight.

Ha! Maybe in 30 years. This is still the same country that uses paper cheques.

I've not been to the US for a while, is this still the case?
 
If you're referring to restaurants, the US could join the rest of the modern world where waiters bring portable credit card readers to your table when you pay your bill so your card never leaves your sight.

Restaurants is just one very obvious example. There's lots of retail where the cards leave your possession. And sure an alternative could be that portable card readers are brought to you but then you're still signing something to have a printed receipt.

No doubt the security of the cards approach can be improved too. But, if that doesn't do it, another reason to like it is added competition for the big banks behind the cards. Maybe Apple chooses not to be as greedy on the transactional fees charged to the retailer or the interest charged to the consumer?

As we say too often around here, if Apple goes there, so goes Google, Samsung, et all. That's lots of potential competition for the big banks. Lots of competitors for a similar service tend to drive some price battles. Lower fees or lower interest is generally good for us consumers.
 
It'll probably be heavily related to the iTunes Store credit, which is kinda good because then I'd be able to fill up my credit card with gift cards.
 
Restaurants is just one very obvious example. There's lots of retail where the cards leave your possession. And sure an alternative could be that portable card readers are brought to you but then you're still signing something to have a printed receipt.

No doubt the security of the cards approach can be improved too. But, if that doesn't do it, another reason to like it is added competition for the big banks behind the cards. Maybe Apple chooses not to be as greedy on the transactional fees charged to the retailer or the interest charged to the consumer?

As we say too often around here, if Apple goes there, so goes Google, Samsung, et all. That's lots of potential competition for the big banks. Lots of competitors for a similar service tend to drive some price battles. Lower fees or lower interest is generally good for us consumers.

I can't say I've ever had my card leave my sight at a retail store.

Apple's not trying to become a bank and issue their own credit cards to compete with the banks. They want to partner with banks to support contactless payments via the iPhone. Same transaction fees, same interest rate.

Of course, if you're paying interest on a credit card, you're doing it wrong.
 
If you're referring to restaurants, the US could join the rest of the modern world where waiters bring portable credit card readers to your table when you pay your bill so your card never leaves your sight.

The data read off your card most definitely does leave your sight. You have no idea where it goes, so you have to trust the merchant.

I'm writing a server right now, and this is similar to Facebook authentication. Using a credit card is like giving a server your Facebook username and password. Nobody does that. You give Facebook your username and password, everything happens on their servers, and then they give the 3rd party server an authentication token verifying that you are logged in. There's no way for the 3rd party server to use your credentials for anything not provided to it through Facebook's API. Just like how there'd be no way for a merchant to take your credit card number and use it for anything.

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Not a chance. :mad:

This is almost a legalized, abeit barely, pyramid scheme waiting to implode. Not with my hard earned money, thank you.

I just hate it because it's used for payment for illegal services, and I'm sure the founders and anyone supporting it know that.
 
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I'm not sure why anyone would be concerned that this could be a bad thing because your iPhone could get stolen. So can your credit card or wallet! This solution is probably even more secure, as iPhones are password-protected.

And if your phone gets stolen... tough because they need Touch ID to make the payments anyway.
 
I can't say I've ever had my card leave my sight at a retail store

OK. Good for you.

I used to work in retail jewelry. Most customers would fill out a credit application for store credit and provide a credit card for the DP. All that would go back to the desk while they waited for an answer on the store credit.

Ever buy a car? Same sequence of events is common.

My kid just got back from 2 summer camps. In both cases, I had to share all of the credit card information an identity thief would need with people I've never met and then sign when we got to camp. That gave them all of the credit card info + signature.

Just visited Disney & Universal Studios. To buy the passes, I had to hand the card through the window to some people I never met. Then they printed some tickets and handed me one to sign.

Just stayed at a hotel. Had to hand someone a credit card "for incidentals" then sign a document to formally accept the room agreement.

Just went to the movies. Had to hand someone the credit card then sign one of the tickets that printed.

Just rented a car. Had to hand some stranger the card then sign a document in 3 places and initial it in 7 (not kidding).

All that's just everyday business. How many of those people could I name today? None. I could barely even describe what they looked like today.

Need more?

Take note for a few days and see if your own pieces of plastic never leave your possession. Is it possible to avoid? Sure. But I'd prefer the coming way in which there's no plastic exchanged, no account numbers shown, no signatures exchanged.
 
There's a HUGE security benefit to going this way instead of continuing to use cards.

While more security is always welcome, if it's not as convenient, I'm not interested. In the very unlikely event something does happen, it's pretty easy to dispute a charge.

Also, card technology is not standing still. The US is finally starting to join the rest of the world with chip-and-pin cards. My credit union got them about a year ago.
 
The data read off your card most definitely does leave your sight. You have no idea where it goes, so you have to trust the merchant.

I think the concern is more about the 16 year old teenager taking your card out of sight more than anything else. Or the 30 year old with the credit card fraud conviction that you don't know about that you're handing your card to.
 
If it could bypass 3rd party payment solutions, then that would be truly great tech. But credit card companies would still charge Apple... so fees would seemingly remain for the vendor. Interesting.

Correct. Bypassing 3rd party, it's either:
1. Apple getting greedy: Price remains the same for customer (us)
2. Apple being smarter: Slight reduce in price for customer (us) while Apple still gain better profit.
 
wrong model

If you're referring to restaurants, the US could join the rest of the modern world where waiters bring portable credit card readers to your table when you pay your bill so your card never leaves your sight.

It could, but why? You could just securely pay you bill from your iPhone. You only need the reader if you're using a chip+PIN card.

They'd have portable card readers for folks with Samsung Galaxy S5's. Hah !
 
OK. Good for you.

I used to work in retail jewelry. Most customers would fill out a credit application for store credit and provide a credit card for the DP. All that would go back to the desk while they waited for an answer on the store credit.

Ever buy a car? Same sequence of events is common.

My kid just got back from 2 summer camps. In both cases, I had to share all of the credit card information an identity thief would need with people I've never met and then sign when we got to camp. That gave them all of the credit card info + signature.

Just visited Disney & Universal Studios. To buy the passes, I had to hand the card through the window to some people I never met. Then they printed some tickets and handed me one to sign.

Just stayed at a hotel. Had to hand someone a credit card "for incidentals" then sign a document to formally accept the room agreement.

Just went to the movies. Had to hand someone the credit card then sign one of the tickets that printed.

Just rented a car. Had to hand some stranger the card then sign a document in 3 places and initial it in 7 (not kidding).

All that's just everyday business. How many of those people could I name today? None. I could barely even describe what they looked like today.

Need more?

Take note for a few days and see if your own pieces of plastic never leave your possession. Is it possible to avoid? Sure. But I'd prefer the coming way in which there's no plastic exchanged, no account numbers shown, no signatures exchanged.

I said leave my sight. If the cashier at the movie theater was writing down my card number I'd see it.
 
chip+PIN, or chip+signature

Also, card technology is not standing still. The US is finally starting to join the rest of the world with chip-and-pin cards. My credit union got them about a year ago.

I received a chip card from Citi a while ago. "Great", I thought, "I'll be able to use this in Europe and avoid the hassle". Not so fast. When I queried Citi, they that that it does NOT work in Europe as chip+PIN, but just as a swipe card. Looking at the accompanying flier more closely, I discovered that it's actually a "chip+signature" card, and has no PIN. So it's a bit more secure in that the chip can't be cloned, but that's it. I don't understand why they're doing half-measures but they are.
 
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