Yeah, it's really annoying. I generally get gas at Costco, and the chip/NFC readers are quite obvious... they just need to turn the darn things on!
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Costco App for iOS Now Supports Digital Membership Cards, Allowing for Wallet-Free Shopping Trips
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Yeah, it's really annoying. I generally get gas at Costco, and the chip/NFC readers are quite obvious... they just need to turn the darn things on!
Someone earlier was saying that the QR code changes periodically (including a 2FA code or similar, to prevent screenshots of cards from working). That would make it somewhat more secure. I expect Apple can't handle that yet. I'd like to see them add support for it, and I'd like to see more companies use it. Though companies like CostCo would presumably want Apple's Wallet app to communicate with the CostCo (or whatever store) app, to get the current data to generate the QR code from (right when it's needed) - so that folks couldn't just type the same seed in on multiple people's phones.
Interestingly, I took a screenshot of the QR code, to see if they did change... and the app kinda scolded me, warning that the screenshot wouldn't work in place of the app.
I'm curious, is that because none of the terminal makers have bothered, or is there some insurmountable limitation inherent in the pump/vending machine environment?
In the US, maybe. In the UK any debit card OR Amex. Probably also any Costco based bank card. No other credit cards. Having said that, I used ApplePay to pay for a gelato at the cafe and I had forgotten it was set to my Visa credit as default. That went through.
All the petrol pumps at Costco UK are chip and pin. It isn't a technological limitation.
This app must be a US exclusive. The Costco app I get is a crappy web app that just brings up the standard web site for Costco UK.
Please retailers why can’t these kinds of cards just be done in the Apple Wallet for hell’s sake!
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Walmart Pay and currenc is a joke, they all should’ve given their customers what they actually want...Apple Pay and membership cards within Apple wallet.
It’s in fact the same app. Your country designation sets whether you get to see the membership or not. Canada has it working as well.
Gas pumps at Safeway here in Arizona are chip and PIN. But most are swipe still, but the chip readers are already there. They just have been lazy, and they said they should all be on the end of this year. (Gas pumps had until 2020! As a deadline to turn on the chip readers)*
The plus side is that the contactless readers should be on as well.
Thanks for the info. I've got to say, I don't think I have ever seen a swipe card reader at a petrol station. They went straight to chip and pin for self service here. I'm half expecting someone to pitch in and claim that they can pay by cheque at their local filling station. At the pump.
Not sure we are going to see contactless payment in a hurry since most bank cards have a max of £30 per contactless transaction, which will get you less than half a tank for the average small car. Maybe if they implement ApplePay wihich removes that restriction.
The EU is going to raise the contactless limit to €50 or local equivalent by the end of the year. Assuming the UK is still in by then, that's approximately £45 at current exchange rates. Not too much of an increase but still.
(Look up "secure customer authentication" for more info on that law.)
There are still some pumps here in Switzerland where, in addition to cards, you can feed cash into the pump.
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There was talk of this a couple of years ago. Can’t remember currency $£€, but it was supposed to go to around 100. Here in Switzerland it increased at minimum for Apple Pay as today I paid >100 CHF on my AMEX using my watch.
To be honest the swipe card reader at the pumps in the US look exactly like the chip readers. The only way to tell the difference is the signage. Some people still don’t pay attention and attempt to swipe (inserting and directly removing) the card on the pump only for the chip reader to lock the card in place when they attempt to remove the card as it’s reading the chip. Safeway, Speedway, Some Mobil stations etc will have giant signs saying “THIS IS A CHIP READER, do not remove the card upon inserting!!”
Some other vending machine card readers like the post office kiosk here in the US dont make it too obvious that it’s a chip reader, and swiping the card just results in an error, and the little tiny sticker just tells you it’s a chip reader, don’t remove it.
Most regular in store credit card readers are chip readers so people don’t have trouble with those. It’s the kiosks and gas pumps people are still used to swipe on.
Also to add to it, there is no contactless limit that I know of in the US. I tapped a physical card (not Apple Pay) for over $550 at a car mechanic after he replaced some expensive parts in my car.
And I guess you’re seeing contactless readers on gas pumps pop up in the US more rapidly because it seems a lot of stations have decided to replace their pumps entirely with new ones that have giant color screens on them (why to play ads while you’re pumping gas of course). And these pumps have the latest chip & PIN and contactless readers in them.
Costco UK readers still read the magnetic stripe on the membership card before reading the chip on your credit card correct?
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No. The pump has a scanner which picks up the barcode on the card. There are no magnetic stripes on UK Costco cards.
As for swiping in general, our chip and pin machines have a channel on the side of the reader that you swipe your card through since some store loyalty cards still have magnetic strips, although most are moving to either barcodes/QR or contactless. You cannot swipe by inserting into the reader at the base, which is only for chip and pin.
You can see on the image above the chip and pin goes in at the base and swipe cards are on the right hand side. No confusing the two.
Most US in store card readers look like the one above. Chip cards go in the bottom and swipe cards swipe on the side. Gas pump readers are “combination” readers where swiping and chip reading is the same slot (and ATMs for that matter, and a lot of kiosks like train tickets or post office)
This makes perfect sense to me. I've a few other apps (e.g. my AAA membership app) which do the same thing. After you log in, it caches your member information in the app so it's always available regardless of connectivity.
I hope not. I've been investigating kiosk-mounted barcode scanners recently and every one I've found claims to be able to decode the barcode in-device. I assume the QR scanner Costco uses will be no different. The reader will decode it and return the string of numbers to the computer, which should be able to process it the same way it processes the number on your plastic membership card.
The pumps I've seen (in Virginia) aren't using them. There's a small window (with a yellow laser warning printed above it) where I assume you will be expected to put your phone. I'm not sure who makes the scanner, but it's internal to the pump. There's also a contactless card reader.
I have no idea if any of these devices are activated yet. I normally just insert my Costco Visa card, which has my membership information as well as the Visa account information. Easier than dealing with two cards, virtual or physical.
I was worried it wouldn't work without connectivity because they're not letting us put our membership info into our Apple Wallet (like the AAA app does). Glad that's not the case.
And also no doubt contactless cannot be accepted either anywhere they're using those verifone vx 810 pinpads. The verifone vx 810 is so old that it still came without a built in contactless reader.