Chip and signature is what they support. In Canada we use chip and PIN - never heard of chip and signature before until US started using chip cards.
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Square Launches NFC Reader to Bring Apple Pay to Smaller Businesses
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You're right. This doesn't make any sense. The whole point of the chip card is the use of a PIN for verification (yes, also so people can't duplicate your card), but if someone steals your card, they can still use it.
One step forward for Apple Pay but still stagnant with the lack of PIN.
For context, in Canada, 99% of them time you need to enter a PIN to use your credit card. Only time you don't have to is at markets where people use Square.
Plus they dont use the same hands to touch food and cash...
But yes, the privacy is great. The convenience is what I really hope for.
Presumably, the PIN can be entered directly on the device's touch screen.
Signatures have always been a joke as far as verification is concerned. Think of the headache it would be for the CC issuer to obtain the signature, verify it against yours, take your word that the signature isn't yours, then process the fraudulent transaction. We have technology that mitigates this. Why not use it??
I can't find any information about PIN on the website. All they talk about is the inability to duplicate the card. Nothing about PIN. https://squareup.com/emv
All you had to do was read the replies. Chip is supported but there is no indication that PIN is.
Don't be a dink.
Well, the US is Square's major market and Credit Cards do not usually have PINs there. However, as far as I know, EMV-compliant POS terminals should all support PIN entry - even in the US.
I wonder about that. It's conceivable that the CC companies might require the pin pad to be part of the same hardware device where the chip is read.
There are two recent events that suggest some level of paranoia concerning where the pin actually comes from:
Smart Cards Used To Hack Smart Cards | Hackaday
The other, I don't think I have a link to, but the story was that someone actually attacked the Chip-n-pin reader supply chain to install a monkey-in-the-middle directly in the hardware. Ever since then, the CC companies have been insisting on countermeasures through the supply chain to prevent those sorts of shenanigans.
Good lord, the reason why the US is going to Chip and Sig isn't for security, it's for convenience. They know that the longer transactions take, the less happy the merchant and the customer will be. Add the fact that the most common PINs are 0000 and 1234, and the fact that people are dumb, and you'll have problems. Yes, the sig doesn't mean anything, but who cares. As a consumer, my credit card company takes care of all fraud, and all these cards are still vulnerable to CNP transactions.
That's assuming you have cash to dig out. A lot of vendors don't get my money ONLY because they don't take "plastic", as there is rarely cash in my pocket nowadays - I _want_ to buy, but if they don't take a common currency medium then the transaction doesn't happen. Hitting an ATM is miles out of my way.
This year I took my daughter around the neighborhood selling Girl Scout Cookies. Considering how many people didn't have convenient cash or checks (or using them was clearly inconvenient), I'll be taking my Square reader with us next time.
I think for most people, entering a PIN is actually quicker than signing something by the time you pick up a pen/stylus or whatever. Certainly it's not slower.
I'm actually startled by how LONG the "chip" readers take, like 30 seconds vs a quick swipe. (At least if I'm signing something, I'm _doing_ something to distract me from the passage of time.)
What is it with people like you?
The transaction takes five seconds, tops. And I've used the chip at many different retailers.
There's something wrong with the terminal or network if it's taking 30 seconds. Shouldn't be more than 2-3 seconds, often less. Transport for London process NFC card transactions in about 800ms on their Tube and Busses.
It's actually a flat 2.75% with no other fees for regular transactions, the higher charges are for manual transactions, which are much riskier.
I think you will see adoption as fast as Square can make them.
Liability for fraud shifted to merchants in October, 2015. Square offered to assume liability for that fraud if a merchant would pre-order this device. They also include a mag-stripe reader for free, if someone has a card without chip.
I would be willing to pay a small percentage to use apple pay. Say split the 2.75 with the merchant. Using the food truck example, if my bill is $10, an extra 13 or 14 cents is worth it to me. Even if it was $100, I would do $1.37 or whatever.
Serious question: Would anyone not pay a little extra for the convenience and security?
Serious question: Would anyone not pay a little extra for the convenience and security?
I don't know if Square will implement it, but there's no reason they couldn't put a PIN pad on the iPhone app.
They use the app for a signature now, although it's not exactly legible if you don't use a stylus.
Serious answer: Old habits die never..
If you want to charge people to use Apple Pay, then forget about it taking off. It's not about the money. It's the psychology of it all. Most people don't think pulling your smartphone to pay is all that much more convenient than your credit card. Regarding security, it's nothing tangible that they can see, so to many it's still not a benefit.
By the way, paying with your smartwatch is the way to go. That is way more convenient. I only have the Apple Watch and it's linked to my iPhone 5 (so no touch ID or Apple Pay). Often times I don't even carry my iPhone 5 (as I use a Nexus 6P now) but still wear my Apple Watch for Apple Pay along. Paying via the Apple watch..that's convenience right there.