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Original poster

To not pay via contactless?

239 replies

DonaldLovesDoritos · 21/08/2018 22:18

I was in my local Tesco today, just quickly grabbing a few things.

I got to the till and was told "It is contactless you know". I said I was aware, but I'd rather pay via the usual chip and pin if that was okay. The checkout lady looked a bit confused.

Later this afternoon I visited Boots. The woman who served me said would I mind using contactless, because it'll be quicker and hurry things along. I said no thank you, I'll stick with pin entering if that's alright. She was very Confused and just repeated "contactless is faster for us"

AIBU not to pay via contactless?

OP posts:
GunpowderGelatine · 21/08/2018 23:12

DontMake how does it make you bad with your finances because you wasn't your bank to show the correct available balance or be clear about what you've spent? Confused

Clairetree1 · 21/08/2018 23:14

claire, that is such bollocks. It was cancelled. Trust me.

trust me, it wasn't and it can't be, and even if it was, it can be reactivted.

If you have missed the dozens of media reports, investigations and documentaries about this issue, here are a tiny proportion of them.

i would particularly draw your attention to the money saving expert advice that having once lost a contactless card you MUST go through every single bank statement in detail, every few days, for the forseeable future, as the defrauding can start up again at any time

metro.co.uk/2018/02/23/stolen-contactless-cards-can-still-be-used-even-after-they-are-cancelled-banks-reveal-7338019/

www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/cards/2016/09/card-lost-or-stolen-beware---you-could-be-the-victim-of-contactless-fraud-months-after-youve-cancelled-it

Bank customers whose lost or stolen contactless cards have been cancelled may need to comb through months or even years of statements to check for fraudulent transactions, an MSE investigation has found.

www.moneyguideireland.com/stolen-contactless-cards-can-still-used-even-cancelled.h...
www.theguardian.com/money/2015/dec/19/contactless-payments-card-fraud-after-cancellation-bank-account

Italiangreyhound · 21/08/2018 23:14

YADNBU of course you can pay any way you like. Next time go in with 500 pennies and see if they prefer that!

(Staff are there to serve you not argue with you.)

I didn't even realize my card did contact-less until recently!

CherryPavlova · 21/08/2018 23:14

I don’t even have contactless and manage just fine.

Userplusnumbers · 21/08/2018 23:15

As mentioned by a PP contactless uses the same system as chip and pin - if your available balance isn't being updated in real time, this is down to the bank - not whether you've used chip and pin or not. Some update in real time, some do it at the end of the day. Whether you chip and pin or contactless it can still take upto three working days for it to reflect on actual balance.

Regards entering your pin - you can make 5 contactless payments on one day before having to re-enter your pin (there are exceptions such as using it to pay for the tube)

erinaceus · 21/08/2018 23:16

YANBU - I think it's totally fine to say that you have a preference for chip and pin. I don't think that you have to give a reason.

I prefer contactless. I always think...hygiene reasons...

Clairetree1 · 21/08/2018 23:17

And it is bollocks that a contactless card is impossible to cancel!

what is it with you guys!

I have told you a widely known, heavily investigated, easily verifiable fact.

look it up for yourself, if you don't trust the links I provided.

I just took the first 4, out of probably 400+ links, by the way, find it yourself, check it yourself.

the advise on moneysavingexpert is check every single transaction from your bank every week forever if you have ever lost a contactless card, becasue they cannot be cancelled and could be used again at any time

LRDtheFeministDragon · 21/08/2018 23:17

gun, how is it not bad with finances not to know what you've spent?!

I can understand everyone has moments of daftness where you forget spending something and then panic, but surely you can't blame the technology for that? If you need a system that is always reliably trackable to the minute, you can't use chip and pin or cheques or contactless, because (as is well known and understood), they will all clear at varying speeds. You could use cash, or you could (like most people) keep tabs on what you spend.

Italiangreyhound · 21/08/2018 23:18

PS who cares why you don't want to use contactless, your choice.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 21/08/2018 23:18

Shit, claire, I googled, and you're right! Shock

You know the other awful thing? Apparently they faked the moon landings, and Elvis is alive in Bridlington. Shock Shock

Ijumpedtheshark · 21/08/2018 23:18

?

MilkybarGrownup · 21/08/2018 23:19

I use contactless on occasion but like many other posters, I noticed quite a while ago that it doesn't always show up on my account for anything up to two days sometimes whereas chip and pin has always appeared instantly. It's possible that I have been lucky with C&P and unlucky with contactless but I doubt it. It happened too often.
I once went overdrawn when I didn't realise the contactless payment hadn't been taken out instantly and I had accidentally overspent. It put me off it for a while as I had to give a family member cash to transfer money online from their bank for me that day as all my local branches are gone. Very embarrassing.
I've also seen cashiers taking and tapping cards without even asking and worse, not showing the amount to me first! I now don't hand my card over but ask for the handheld machine instead so that I can make the payment myself.

There was a story in the local news about a petrol station who's employees were tapping the cards again after telling the customer it didn't go through, pressing buttons on the machine again (presumably to retry but in reality, adding a second amount). They were of course caught and prosecuted but allowing anyone to have your card can let this happen.

If you don't feel comfortable using contactless, I will happily stand behind you and wait my turn, just as if you were fiddling about with cash counting coins out of your purse! Its your purchase to pay however you want.

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 21/08/2018 23:19

The only person I know who refuses to use contactless is DM.

Then again, she's also a tin foil hat wearing Brexiteer, so read into it what you will.

Teenagerwoes · 21/08/2018 23:20

My ds had money taken at a petrol station, by the cashier, his bank told him as he had a receipt if he had used chip and pin he would get it refunded , with contactless it’s a no though as it’s on him to check amount despite cashier not showing him It and it being on camera.

Also a contactless card can be cloned so easily though all your bags unless you have a bag / wallet that blocks it.

I have never once been ID checked with contactless, has anyone?

SneakyGremlins · 21/08/2018 23:20

Oh, Claire's here.

Anyway - what's the swipe method?

userofthiswebsite · 21/08/2018 23:20

I choose not to use contactless.

I don't give a damn if other people think I should be using it.

Clairetree1 · 21/08/2018 23:21

Shit, claire, I googled, and you're right!

I am right, google it and you will see that

sorry if you don't like it, but its better to know these unpleasant truths.

DontMakeMeShushYou · 21/08/2018 23:21

DontMake how does it make you bad with your finances because you wasn't your bank to show the correct available balance or be clear about what you've spent?

Wanting your bank to show you the minute-by-minute available balance and not knowing how much you have to spend are different things. If you look at your balance and recent transactions then surely you know whether they are all there or not. And if they're not, then you allow for that in your calculations. How on earth do/did people cope with cheques?

butterflysugarbaby · 21/08/2018 23:21

@Clairetree1 stop talking poo. Yes the card can be used for a few transactions after it's been nicked! But you said it was impossible to cancel, which is a load of shit.

RedneckStumpy · 21/08/2018 23:23

Sorry but I stick to regular chip and PIN, or preferably cash,

GabsAlot · 21/08/2018 23:24

if u register for android/apple pay the transcation shows up straight away same thing just use your phone instead

Sugarhunnyicedtea · 21/08/2018 23:25

You can completely cancel a contactless card. You also would not have to check 'all transactions forever' because the card has an expiry date.

GunpowderGelatine · 21/08/2018 23:25

gun, how is it not bad with finances not to know what you've spent?!

Because unless you check your balance every other minute it's impossible to know which transactions are pending and which are sitting waiting to be pending for another week. It's frustrating and you would think that it should be fairly straightforward, that all transactions would just come off the available balance.

I genuinely can't see how wanting to know, rather than guessing which many transactions have come off the available balance, makes you bad with money?!

SimonBridges · 21/08/2018 23:25

They were of course caught and prosecuted but allowing anyone to have your card can let this happen.

But this is the bonus of chip and pin as well as contactless, your card should never leave your hand.
Not like in the dark ages when the waiter would wander off to the card machine with your card.

Clairetree1 · 21/08/2018 23:25

@Clairetree1 stop talking poo. Yes the card can be used for a few transactions after it's been nicked! But you said it was impossible to cancel, which is a load of shit.

it i true.

like I said, very easily verifiable

just look at the moneysavingexpert advice, the most independent source of financial information in the uk.

or look at any one of the many many many investigations there have been into this.

If you have lost a contactlesscard, you need to look out for fraudulent transactions being made on it forever - as things currently stand

because they cannot be cancelled.

The cost of stolen card being used shouldn't be passed on to the original owner, but in practice, a few year later, they often are, and you need to watch out for this, and reclaim any loss from fraudulent transactions

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