💾 Archived View for jsreed5.org › log › 2021 › 202104 › 20210418-chip-complaints.gmi captured on 2021-12-06 at 14:29:53. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2021-12-04)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
---
Most stores in my area switched to chip-based card payment systems years ago, though every now and then I'll come across the odd shop that still wants me to swipe. Today I stopped at my local filling station and discovered that the self-service gasoline pumps there are also starting to read chips instead of the magnetic strip.
I've read that chip technology is designed to improve security by making the information for every transaction unique. This is a nice idea, and I can see why it's become widely adopted. But just like with the many COVID restrictions, understanding its utility doesn't mean I like it.
When magnetic strips were the norm, using a payment card was very quick. One short swipe through the reader, and I could put my card back into my wallet while waiting for the transaction to process. By the time my receipt was ready to be printed, my wallet was back in my pocket and I was ready to go. It was easy, it was fast, and it was hassle-free.
It was also insecure; I understand that. But it was definitely less inconvenient than chips. I hate having to let my card sit in a machine for several seconds while a transaction runs its course, forcing me to pause and slow down the line at the payment kiosk, only for the machine to beep or ding at me loudly when I'm already aware that I need to take the card out. By the time I can take the card out, my receipt is already printing and I'm already being shooed away, so I fumble with my wallet trying to put my card away as fast as I can so I can stop holding everyone up behind me. The order in which I need to do everything is scrambled, and everything becomes slower and more frustrating.
It was widely understood in previous years that payment cards were not secure. Even with chip technology, they still aren't fraud-proof. My preferred remedy for this problem is to simply use payment cards less and go back to using actual cash. Cash is better anyway: it can be exchanged privately, it works entirely offline, and one has a tangible sense of how much one is spending (or saving) by the number and kinds of bills in one's wallet or pocketbook.
As the pandemic draws down and I begin going to physical stores more often, I've begun to make more transactions with cash instead of a card. I'm definitely starting to prefer it over those annoying chips.
Rant over.
---
[Last updated: 2021-10-28]