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.

100 quid in case I can’t use my card for my food shopping? Sounds normal.

I don’t carry my card, unless I know I’m over the contactless limit. But if the system went down or my phone didn’t work then I would know the issue was mine not having my card and I wouldn’t be anything other than accepting towards the workers.

This happened to me in Tesco a few weeks ago. Apparently the same had happened nationwide but it wasn't reported the way that Sainsburys was today.
Anyway, I luckily did have a card on me but couldn't remember the pin for it! I had to login to my app and do a face detection just to reveal it. There was a huge queue behind me, it was utterly mortifying! Massive wake up call!

wasnt the same but i got caugt out wen the machine said it needed my card to verify its a random thing apparently

so still got my cards with me now

Honestly, I'm amazed at how many people only have a phone or a watch as payment methods and absolutely no backup whatsoever. What if your phone breaks/is stolen/runs out of power? It seems absolutely extraordinary that people don't have any other means of paying for things on them at all, and to me that's the height of irresponsibility. You're going to get massively unstuck sooner or later, so don't come crying to me when you do. To me, relying completely on a phone would feel as stupid as going out with no shoes on.

I stopped using cash ages ago as well, and do all my spending on cards, but chip and pin is generally more reliable and has less downtime than contactless, and I can get cash whenever I need it.

As for the person who has a digital lock on their house - are you absolutely barking mad?

What happens if it breaks/stolen/runs out of power? What happens if your purse or handbag is stolen? Also, if I’m going anywhere more serious than the corner shop or local cafe then I do take my purse with me. As yet I’ve not needed to use a card in a long time.

Then they should get their finger out and stop waving the damned phone about especially if they've also fannied about finding their Lidl whatsit before paying.

Well, in 35 years of being a functional adult, I've never lost a bank card or had it stolen. In 15 years of using a smartphone of some kind or another, I've lost count of the number of times it's crapped out on me, crashed, run out of juice, lost signal etc. I know what I'm going to trust.

They don’t need to wave it about. You press the button and hold it over the card reader. You have encountered a problem with one fuckwit, not a problem with device payment.

Well, as someone who regularly deals with the public and gets stick for when contactless is down but chip and pin still works, there's a lot of fuckwittery about, and being irresponsible enough to not have a suitable method of payment on you is quite fuckwitted.

I’ve never regularly carried my bank card, even pre Apple Pay. Often I’d simply be in a position where I couldn’t buy anything unless I knew I may need to and therefore took cash or card with me.

I don’t even know where my bank card is right now. I don’t like handbags, I use pockets. I have MANY coats. I cannot be arsed moving my card around all the time, and when I do, it inevitably ends up disappearing anyway. I’ll find it six months later.

What business is it of anyone else if I end up in a position where I can’t pay for something and have to leave it behind?

for what it’s worth, my contactless (apply pay or otherwise) has NEVER declined and asked for a PIN. Not ever. Not even once 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sainers tills went down the other year and that’s the only experience of that happening I have come across as well, and having my card on me wouldn’t have helped.

soooo MYOB? 🙃

@ZetuianRose Yes, but contactless can fail and chip and pin can still work. The company I work for is public transport. I've met loads of people who only have a phone and then can't buy tickets, and give me loads of abuse for it, because they haven't got any other methods of payment.

I'm sorry, if that happens, it's not my fault, it's yours. And having no idea where your bank cards are is honestly ridiculous.

I'm just amazed at the level of blind faith people put in technology to do everything, and how utterly screwed they are when it goes down for whatever reason. I never put myself in that position.

Until it fails, then your fucked like the folk in Sainsburys today.
Is a key really so heavy and cumbersome that you can't carry it, or a bank card for that matter

Have you read about how easy it is to steal a car with a keyless entry system? And people entrust their house and everything it contains to the same utterly unfit for purpose technology? The mind boggles, it really does.

Because we need them to pay for things.

Always carry mine, would nearly panic if I didn’t have it on me, also almost always carry a small amount of cash (50) just for emergencies, can’t stand the thought of being somewhere and not being able to pay

Exactly, that's called being prepared and responsible.

“Can” happen, but won’t always. And as I said, on the one single instance where tech went down, it was cash only, so irrelevant.

Wtf are you on about? Where have I said anything is your, or anyone else’s fault? 😂 I literally said that IF somehow it happened that I couldn’t pay with my phone then I wouldn’t be able to pay. So what? Not the end of the world is it? Not sure why you’re making up your own angry narrative 🤣 crackers!

I couldn’t care less if you think it’s “ridiculous” to be perfectly honest, they’re in the house and that’s all that matters. As I said, MYOB 😝

@ZetuianRose Unfortunately the idiots who don't have bank cards on them and can't pay to use public transport, and then decide to give me abuse for it, have made it my concern.

As I’ve said before don’t confuse people who choose to live their lives in a way different to yours and twats who shout abuse and people in shops.

Unfortunately, in my experience the overlap between "people who don't carry bank cards" and "twats who shout at people in shops" is absolutely huge.

You’ve just explained why, when I popped into Sainsburys with DS for a pizza earlier this evening, the poor woman on the customer service desk was fending off questions about “are your systems back online now?!”

I have Apple Pay but 90% of the time take my purse/cards with me. I panic that my Apple Pay will be refused and I won’t have another means to pay (that has never happened yet in all the years I’ve used it). There has been times when I’ve realised half way through the drive to the shop that I’ve forgotten my purse but I don’t then turn round to get it as I know I have Apple Pay. I keep my purse in DS changing bag (it’s with me more often than not) but there is occasions where I go out without him and jump in the car without it. I’ve had Apple Pay for years and have yet to meet a situation where it’s been refused/not worked. So I guess I’ve become comfortable enough to not see the need to turn around for my debit card when I forget it on occasion. That being said, if there was a systems failure and my Apple Pay didn’t work and I didn’t have the means of payment, I’d obviously feel peeved but wouldn’t take it out on staff (as I saw today). It’s totally down to me.

Hmm. I don’t carry bank cards all the time and don’t shout at people in shops. There are a lot of posters on this thread who don’t carry bank cards and I suspect don’t shout at people in shops.

The odd abusive weirdo on a bus does NOT make my life or choices your business 🫤 and you’re not being much better than they are by insulting a load of people you don’t know, so…. my point stands