Originally Posted by tmiw (Post 23517915)

The NFC readers at the McDonalds by my work apparently aren't currently functioning even though the green light's on. It wouldn't recognize Google Wallet today and after a few seconds I gave up and swiped. Anyone have better luck there?

Originally Posted by kebosabi (Post 23518057)

I used one today at a McDonald's and it worked just fine with my Discover ZIP card. For me, it's Taco Bell I have an issue with. They have them installed, but they're behind anti-robbery plexi-glass so it makes no sense.

Originally Posted by kebosabi (Post 23518057)

I used one today at a McDonald's and it worked just fine with my Discover ZIP card. For me, it's Taco Bell I have an issue with. They have them installed, but they're behind anti-robbery plexi-glass so it makes no sense.

Originally Posted by alexmt (Post 23518177)

Anti-robbery plexiglas at Taco Bell? Granted, the one near my school had an armed robbery earlier this year, but still. I wouldn't want to live in a neighbourhood where that was considered okay or necessary.

Originally Posted by alexmt (Post 23518177)

Anyway, fill out a complaint on the Mastercard Paypass locator that contactless is not easily accessible.

Originally Posted by kebosabi (Post 23518796)

Coming across places with cashiers behind plexi-glass is normal here in LA, especially in establishments that were built during the high gang violence years of the 1990s. Not all Taco Bells have them, just the Taco Bells built/renovated during the 1990s. Heck, I think even all the BofA here in LA has them since the NoHo shootout.

Life in LA is quite different from Missoula. Coming across banks, post offices and fast food places with cashiers behind plexiglass are just considered normal.

I already did 3 years ago, still keeps them behind the plexiglass.

Originally Posted by alexmt (Post 23518844)

Worth complaining again, and I'm definitely not comparing to Missoula. I'm comparing to London, Berlin, Bucharest, Calgary, Amsterdam, etc... mostly London since that's the city I've spent by far the most time in in my life.

Originally Posted by kebosabi (Post 23518959)

I think we've established by now from the past discussions that:

A. The networks really don't enforce their rules and regulations and,
B. This is Murica we're talking about here. :D

Originally Posted by arstechnica.com

But lucky for Apple, a terminal upgrade will be necessary soon in the US. In late 2015, American merchants will have to buy new terminals that support EMV cards, which are more secure (although definitely not hack-proof) than the magnetic stripe cards that the US currently still uses. By October of next year, merchants who don't upgrade their terminals will be made to bear the responsibility for fraud if they are not equipped with EMV card readers. “Merchants are deploying new POS terminals in order to comply with the requirement to have EMV capability in place by October 2015, and nearly all new terminals have the contactless capability needed to accept mobile payments,” senior analyst Thad Peterson of the independent research firm Aite Group told Ars via e-mail. “So, we will very quickly have a critical mass of devices and a critical mass of terminals that are capable of making and accepting mobile payments.” (Peterson added, “The time has come.)

Also, next year's transition to EMV, which is already a widely-supported standard in Europe, Canada, and many other countries, might very well push American consumers to use their phones to pay in increasing numbers, whether that phone is a iPhone 6 or a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. This is because many credit cards based on the new standard will require that the embedded chip be present in the terminal as it reads the necessary information, meaning credit card transactions could take a second or two longer than a quick swipe of a magnetic stripe card. That extra second or two added onto a transaction might be enough to get consumers to feel like using a phone is faster.

Originally Posted by weave (Post 23531102)

But I have my doubts because I think it's a terminal/merchant/provider issue and instead of just me looking like an idiot, soon there's going to be a plethora of Apple users holding up lines everywhere tapping their phones trying to pay and holding everyone up when it doesn't work. :mad:

Originally Posted by weave (Post 23531102)

I've been using Google Wallet for about a year now at Walgreens. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When it works, it's cool and cashiers are always impressed and ask me questions.

When it doesn't work, I look like an idiot. I sit there tapping my phone and nothing happens, or it vibrates a little and still nothing happens. And the cashier scowls and says "that never works" and I'm like "it works sometimes" and then I have to pull out my old fashioned card and swipe it while people behind me look at me with much disapproval for holding things up.

Then there's the time when I pull out my phone and it won't work because I don't have a network signal for some reason. I put in my PIN and the little circle thing just keeps spinning, all the while everyone is looking at you like an idiot. So instead I try to pre-enter my PIN before I get to the check out -- which is kind of stupid when you think about it.

Walgreens is the only place I've used it because it's the only place I've gotten it to work. I've seen the Paywave thing at other places but I've tried and never got it to work, along with the "looking like an idiot" problem. So I stopped even trying now.

It's really a big hassle. Hopefully Apple pulls it off better. If they do, they deserve to walk all over Google's implementation. Because frankly it sucks. But I have my doubts because I think it's a terminal/merchant/provider issue and instead of just me looking like an idiot, soon there's going to be a plethora of Apple users holding up lines everywhere tapping their phones trying to pay and holding everyone up when it doesn't work. :mad: