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 agree too. I read somewhere about us sleepwalking into a cashless society and I think that is a really bad thing. Over reliance on technology which can be used against us by many nefarious actors.

Understandable. Genuinely cannot remember the last time i used chip and pin until this morning. I wasn't even sure of my pin tbh so i get why people don't feel the need to move with their physical cards.

The only time this has ever happened to me, I used my contactless at the atm and withdrew cash.

Not much of a hardship tbf

My digital wallet failed on 3 occasions today in different shops. I had my debit card as a back up so I was still able to pay. A year or so ago my phone ran out of battery and I wasn't able to pay for a restaurant meal, luckily I was with a friend who covered it and I sorted it after ,but imagine I was on my own? I don't like to rely on one payment method anymore , it's good to have either phone or cash, or cash and card etc.

Also, with smaller businesses you can just use bank transfer if you do it in front of them

100% agree. It drives me bonkers when people don't understand what will happen if we lose the ability to pay in cash. Use it or lose it. I have boycotted shops that don't accept cash.

The amount of times I have been stuck behind people having a phone malfunction is too numerous for comfort.
I'm with the OP, carry a bloody bank card and be done with it!

moral of the story always have cash.

The moral of the story is to do your shopping online and avoid supermarkets on a Saturday.

Not this weekend. Sainsbury’s delivery service was up the Swanee.

I have adhd and am always worried I’ll lose my card if I take it with me, ditto for why I don’t tend to take cash out. Just having my phone to keep tabs on is just simpler and the systems going down (which has never happened when I’m shopping) is a much smaller risk than losing my purse (happened many times!).

I only carry my wallet if I'm going away (photo id) or planning to get fuel as our local Asda doesn't do contactless. I'd've been stuffed but just left it.

What an odd question. Why do people not hang onto old tech when new tech is available? What do you think the answer to your question is, OP?

my internet went down last weekend, provider tried to fix it remotely but no joy so an engineer had to come out. Turned out there was a physical fault with some wiring in the thing (sorry for the non-technical language) out on the street and that had to be sorted out. Made me really thinkabout how dependant we are on technology, I had two days with no internet access and luckily I don't need it for work but there was so much I could not do. I was really glad that I kept my favourite DVDs and CDs so at least I had entertainment.

Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s couldn’t fulfil online deliveries today.

do not rely on the system someone else runs

yes
. always have cash i still prefer cash n online shopping always substitutes yak handy if poorly or cant get out

Slightly off topic, but living on the east coast of Canada I have realised that it's always a good idea to keep some cash around. Not necessarily on your person at all times, but somewhere safe at home where it can be accessed easily. We've had several occasions in recent years when all communications and electronic payment systems have gone down and the only way to buy essentials like food and fuel was by cash. One of these events was Hurricane Fiona where communications were down for days, but there have been several shorter outages not related to weather, just technology failures for one reason or another.

Because I never use it. What happened today in Sainsbury's is very rare.

Been behind people trying to pay by phone and there's a glitch. Connection, whatever. Always have a plan B or the people behind will just hate you. (Me)

A few posters on here say that even though they live in a city there are no cash points near them. Don't know which cities but seems strange that they have to travel 30mins to get cash.

I have lost count of the number of people yelling at me because the card machine wants them to put in their card and pin as part of the regular security checks. They expect me to sort it out but I cant! I have had all sorts of stuff thrown at me, the most memorable being a 4 pint container of milk that burst, whilst being told to keep the fucking shopping. One woman in particular got really pissed as it "kept happening" whenever she tried to buy anything. Surely after the first time you would make sure you would keep your card on you?!

Or attempting to access the Lidl app. So they get a free bread roll. By the time it's taken three members of staff the minutes to sort it, they might as well give the whole queue free bread.

That wouldn't have helped, online was affected as well

There are enough occasions when systems fail (in this case the incompetence of an IT function in a retailer to make a change on a Friday evening) to know that a plan B is something you can have. Phone signals being lost is another example.

Sainsbury's IT head should be dismissed, though that does not excuse screaming or other abuse towards retail staff. Two wrongs don't make a right.