rasheed

I just want to point out that my local Vons has the Contactless coming soon sticker since the pumps were updated many months ago.

I suspect when all locations have the new hardware, they will then put the software out. No idea where they will do the testing.

Barciur

So I just got a new phone which runs with Android 11. I noticed that when holding down the power button, a screen shows up with my cards that let me choose which card i want to pay with. It is very convenient to not have to open the Google Pay app to pick a card, but I noticed something very interesting, which confirms what we have talked about previously. I held the power button with the phone locked, so notice how a Discover card said "unlock to pay but my European Revolut just allowed me to tap without unlocking. We previously talked about how American cards always needed to have phone unlocked but European cards did not, and this is the clearest evidence of that in the app.

tmiw

I got my Schwab contactless card last night. Here's what it looks like and the marketing that came with it:



I haven't had a chance to see if the card supports fDDA but the contact interface doesn't seem obviously different than before (e.g. same CVM lists as the old non-contactless card).

BTW, I'm still not a huge fan of non-embossed cards; they tend to look really cheaply made to me.

On one hand, I think it would be nice to be able to tap for smaller purchases without authentication. On the other, I'm not sure if that's realistically possible for the US given the prevalence of Quick Chip (thus making the phone potentially always think you're making a large purchase)--not to mention that people may still be wary of contactless in general. I don't think we've ever gotten a consensus as to why US cards always require unlock in any case.

exp

Is that Schwab card a debit card?

With the ATM fees refund worldwide?

It would be great to find contactless ATMs but I gather the contactless and Apple Pay is for POS at stores.

tmiw

Correct.

The issue is more that the contactless ATMs that do exist domestically are only for the ATM owner's cards at the moment (as in, BofA ATMs only allow BofA cards to be tapped, etc.) However, considering that cards are being encouraged a lot more than they have been at stores, I'm not sure it's a huge priority at the moment. The workaround is to tap your card at a merchant that allows cash back (for instance, Sprouts for sure allows it on contactless as well as when inserting).

ecs0013

I feel like the current Schwab card started out as a "let's keep things clean" design and then additional items got tacked on over time in a haphazard way. I don't really know why the text needs to exist along the edge since it's also on the logo (except that the card appears sideways on digital wallets, so this allows there to be "right side up" text in the stack of cards on your screen?) The contactless logo also seems to have gotten dumped in a free space (I tend to like the ones that line it up with the chip or Amex's CVV).

As for non-embossed cards, I like the idea of them them, but hate the trend of going to matte finishes (even the embossed Chase Freedom Flex) that get damaged almost immediately (most develop shiny, obvious scratches the first time when swiped). I kinda miss the old glossy plastic cards that would develop a patina over time, but the scratches wouldn't be as obvious unless you looked under a light at the right angle. Maybe the matte ones are cheaper to make? I do think Discover's textured cards wear well, as most of the swipes/inserts go along the "grain". Still, as long as it works and the rewards come through, that's more important.

Majuki

Here was a sign at HMS Host operated Starbucks location at an airport recently. What's amusing is I doubt the payment system supports contactless modes for all of these, such as QuickPass for UnionPay.



Our local Safeway is also advertising their payment system.



As we've mentioned on here, I'm happy that there are a lot of customer facing terminals now and merchants are encouraging contactless payments, but I didn't want a pandemic to have to be the catalyst.

exp

When I went to NZ or Australia a couple of years ago, one of the main banks had rolled out a lot of contactless ATMs.

I think they didn't limit to only their customers but they did bar international ATM withdrawals by contactless.

tmiw

Another downside of non-embossed cards is that some places overseas that insist on taking imprints won't be able to. OTOH, I feel like that was becoming less and less common even before the pandemic--not to mention that the Schwab card is probably not the best choice for the merchants that still did (like car rentals).

They very well might as they used the default FreedomPay firmware last I remember (though that may have changed now).

On that note, I saw an article the other day about how contactless usage in the US is still poor despite the pandemic and offering suggestions as to how to fix that. I'll have to link it here when I find it again but honestly, 100%+ growth is still pretty good even if it's from a low baseline.

EDIT: found it.

My first thought was that it was an issue related to MSD contactless support but maybe they had explicit signage indicating no international card support?

LoveClassicMusic0205

One of the reasons is so many merchants are doing a piss poor implementation of contactless. I had it fail twice at Jersey Mike's. I tried paying with my phone and it errored out both times. I then tapped my card (same account) which did work. It was a big hassle because they were quite busy at the time and the cashier kept having to reset the terminal and I kept having to reenter my loyalty information. It really slowed down the payment process.

With constant failures like this, people will stop using it. Contact works the first time, every time (assuming the merchant can do EMV to begin with).

tmiw

Speaking of which, Rite Aid was its typical flaky self today. I ended up having to tap my Schwab card twice for it to go through (global AID, BTW, not common AID).

Anyway, I feel like using your device instead of card has traditionally been more reliable simply because a lot less merchant/POS testing had been done with the latter (and MSD contactless traditionally having been far more supported than EMV contactless). I haven't really run into many failures with tapping physical cards recently, though, but there's still far more interaction with the terminal than necessary.

I've had EMV fail to the point where it fell back to swipe before. It might be more reliable vs. contactless but definitely not guaranteed.

exp

I recall specific exclusion verbiage on the web site. Didn't specifically explain why though.

Majuki

Yes, they are still using the FreedomPay setup.

tmiw

Looks like 7-Eleven released a major app update that gets them into the QR/barcode wallet game. Fortunately, you can load said wallet with Apple/Google Pay in-app and they're probably not going to disable contactless in-store. I can see maybe using this for the one 7-Eleven here that's still using MX915s without contactless enabled and possibly for gas the few times I fill up at one, but inserting isn't a huge deal either.

There also seems to be a "mobile checkout" deal where you scan and pay for your items without dealing with the cashier (except to show your digital receipt to prove you paid), also supporting Apple/Google Pay. Should be interesting to see how that goes.

tmiw

Walmart Canada specifically calls out "tap pay" in their latest holiday commercial, so I guess it's official nationwide now?


Still not going to be holding my breath in the US until they fully conclude that Walmart Pay isn't successful. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they're getting at least enough usage to keep going with it and/or are concluding that people prefer stuff like curbside pickup and delivery over being able to tap their cards or devices. And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it's more the latter.