People who don’t carry their bank cards with them

[Auburngal]

I was in Sainsbury’s this morning and systems are down. No contactless, chip n pin taking ages to go through. Unable to buy gift cards, mobile top up vouchers.

Systems going down like this happen not very often but when they do it’s awful.

On the self scan next to me a woman screamed at the manager on why she can’t pay on her mobile.

Why do many people don’t carry their bank cards anymore? The cards don’t weigh much. Plus if the contactless payment system goes down, hopefully their card will go through via chip n pin. Also they won’t look like idiots either. No sympathy for these.

Regarding contactless payments- sometimes your bank, NOT the retailer etc asks you to do a CnP payment as part of security. “I dunno my PIN”. You can change your PIN to any number you want (not 1234, 1111) at any ATM under PIN services.

I have different cards on my phone in case one doesn't work

Working in retail is bad because of people constantly speaking to you like trash for things that are out of your control.

As if people on the till make the prices, choose which products to stop or are responsible for systems going down!!!

But some self checkout and in person tills just let you weigh them on the actual till scales, but at Waitrose you have to use a separate machine separate from the till, and then sometimes a queue builds up just to weigh and print a sticker off or the machine stops working, or runs out of printing paper etc if that makes sense 😅

I have too, I won’t buy from shops who don’t accept cash. The prospect of a cashless society is terrifying!

I can’t remember the last time I’ve needed my bank card……years! So why would I need to carry it round just in case. At the same time I would scream as someone why I couldn’t use my phone if the system was down. That’s not about the card, that just someone being a butter. I think your post is nonsense.

Absolutely! The poor shop assistant at the door explaining the situation apologised. I told her I was sure it wasn’t her fault. 😁
I did feel for them as I’m sure they got some flak.

I think any customer who throws abuse for out of control things like system issues- should be banned. Maybe for a few months at first. If then is abusive after that - permanent ban

I was in a Sainsburys petrol station about 6 months ago. It was a large one so was able to go straight to a pump but when I got in the shop to pay there was a huge queue. The system had gone down and you could pay in cash or chip and pin but nothing else. As I was paying chip and pin I was able to go straight to the till and pay. A lot of people did actually have their cards on them but had no clue what their number was. As it was petrol you couldn't exactly leave it behind like you could a trolley. I did suggest they put up a notice outside the petrol station to explain the problem as more people were coming in all the time. Customers were shouting abuse at the staff which was absolutely not acceptable. I was curious to see how it ended though and was almost tempted to stay and watch but I have a life so didn't but it taught me to have a back up plan.

I have a wallet case for my phone so I have everything on me. Bank card, credit card, £40 in notes, driving licence, and my appointment card for the dentist for some reason. If I ever lose my phone I'm screwed.

It's so strange though, people are oblivious! We have pages of posts on here bemoaning the i.t systems being down and what they can do without their Apple pay or forgetting pin numbers etc, when the answer is so obvious - carry cash!!!

I'm with OP, so easy to get a phone case with card slots until I had to get rid due to the wireless.I just carry a metal card holder instead of a wallet. Almost zero need for cash, before anyone asks I get nice rewards from my cashback card

I’m a 5 minute walk from my nearest Tesco, so I don’t usually bother bringing my bag, which has my card in. Just my phone and keys. I would always bring it if I was going further though. The only time I’ve not been able to use Apple Pay is on a Ryanair flight!

I just don’t. I pay on my phone. I am amused at the “astonished” people on this thread. I’ve not needed to pay with my bank card anywhere for years and years. Just don’t need to. If I went holiday or on a trip away somewhere I’d take my wallet just in case, sure. But I don’t need it for day-to-day life in my city. Nor cash.

Was going to grab lunch at Sainsburys this morning. Saw the sign on the door re: contactless being down. Walked a few doors down to the local bakery and got lunch there instead. It was far cheaper than Sainburys would have been as well.

On the rare occasion somewhere doesn’t take contactless, they just don’t get my business 🤷🏼‍♀️

Have you actually suggested that people change their pins to 1234 or their date of birth? That is the last thing you should do.

the most secure way to pay is via your phone so no wonder people don’t carry their cards about

The majority of the time it’s not necessary as I can use my phone. It’s the same as going into a shop who has a fault and can only accept cash - I don’t carry round cash either

In either case, I’d purchase elsewhere. Regardless, it wasn’t acceptable for the person to speak to the supermarket staff member in that way, it’s not their fault and raising her tone wouldn’t fix it

Why should I carry bank cards when I have bank cards on my phone and watch?

I don’t even have anywhere to hold my card. Stopped using a wallet years ago and sometimes do t even use a handbag.

Contactless was down but chip and pin wasn’t.

@Auburngal broadly agree with this but in a lot of places it isn't that easy to get to a branch of your bank, my nearest is 50+ miles away so there's no way I would trek there just to change my pin. That said it is only a 4 digit number, not that tough to remember so why people can't I don't know.

I am in my 20s and never really have owned a purse. I used to keep my bank card in my phone case before Apple Pay but as soon as Apple Pay launched I stopped that. I remember buying an expensive YSL card holder in 2016 for a compact way of taking out my oyster, driving license and bank cards as I didn’t need a full blown purse.

But even that was a bit of a faff to carry around, and I was always petrified of losing it.

By 2018-ish I stopped carrying physical cards, even my gorgeous card holder wasn’t enough to claw me away from the convenience of paying on my phone. My Apple Watch is just as convenient.

I've had times where my Apple Pay didn't work - it said I'd exceeded the contactless limit for that day. Even though sometimes I'd barely used it!
So I wouldn't risk doing a big shop with no back up card.

It's all very well saying we should use cash, but my little town has no banks left to get cash from! And one atm which doesn't always work!

Also there’s only been a couple of occasions where I couldn’t pay on my phone due to issues on the businesses end:

1.Hairdresser, who accepted bank transfer instead
2.Dentist who asked me to call them and pay when their system was back online
3.M&S in a train station - the entire store was a ghost town when it’s usually heaving as presumably the majority of people weren’t carrying cash!

How odd. I’ve literally spent thousands on Apple Pay before.

“Also they won’t look like idiots either.”

I’m curious to why you think a customer willing to pay, would look like an idiot because of the failure of shop / banking tech?

Yes, cards are light, but you know what’s even lighter? Not carrying a purse / wallet / bag. I don’t even need to have my phone to pay via my watch, so even if I forgot my phone I wouldn’t be stuck.

I genuinely couldn’t tell you the last time I used chip and pin, or even an actual card for contactless. Technically contactless via watch / phone is even more secure.

In M&S and Sainsburys I use the app on my phone to scan while I shop (means I check all my offers) and pay via Apple Pay. So it’s not even contactless and you don’t have to even go to the checkout you can just walk out. Unlike you, I don’t think “anyone who queues at a checkout is an idiot” for paying a different way than me for instance.

If I am ever truly stuck, 2 of my banks offer contactless ATM withdrawals via the app or text. These are both big chains so they are everywhere. Lots of other banks do too. So again, don’t need my card to get cash out.

People do things differently, it doesn’t mean they are idiots.

@LadyBird1973 thats more a restriction of your bank than Apple Pay though. I exclusively pay with Apple Pay when out and about and the most expensive transaction was £1k, plus I have spent around that much across separate daily transactions on other occasions with no issue.

when your bank asks your for a pin, it does so based on your account history which links into a unique algorithm for you. as I use Apple Pay so much, and because I don’t have a limit on my card payments, I never get asked to input my pin nor does Apple Pay have a limit. Whereas if you rarely use Apple Pay but suddenly start using it with a suspicious transaction, you’re more likely to get asked for an alternative