What would it cost to convert the USA to use chip and pin for credit card transactions?

[Omar_Little]

@Joey_P

My phone has, for a while, had an app called ISIS Wallet that I never touched. A few days ago the name changed to Soft Card

Yeah, I’m sure the developers changed the name from ISIS for a reason!

[Raguleader]

Google Wallet is another app that serves a similar purpose. It gives you the option to unlock the pin for varying periods of time (maybe you want it to stay unlocked for five minutes, so you just put in your pin while in line, or just a whole day and you put your pin in before you leave the house)

[Joey_P]

@Omar_Little

Yeah, I’m sure the developers changed the name from ISIS for a reason!

Yeah, there was a reason I could never bring myself to tap on the icon that said ISIS. I’m surprised it took them so long to change it.

@Raguleader

Google Wallet is another app that serves a similar purpose. It gives you the option to unlock the pin for varying periods of time (maybe you want it to stay unlocked for five minutes, so you just put in your pin while in line, or just a whole day and you put your pin in before you leave the house)

This ISIS/Soft Card, after punching in my PIN it’s set to stay unlocked for 3 minutes but I can set it to 1, 3, 10 or 30 minutes. I just changed it to 10 minutes. That’s probably a good amount of time to be able to unlock the app while in line at the store, then drop the phone back in my pocket so all I have to do is swipe/unlock my phone and it’s right there where I left it.

They’re also REALLY pushing the American Express Serve card which costs $1/mo and it’s a prepaid debit card but for the next few months they’ll give you a dollar each time you use it (for most purchases over $1). When you set up the app they almost trick you into getting this card. I mean, I’m sure you’d realize pretty quickly what was going on, but when I went to register my cards the first thing it said was “click here to register your Amex Serve card”.

[wolfpup]

@Alley_Dweller

The US is converting, but to Chip & Signature rather than Chip & PIN. The simple fact is that in the US the average American has 2.19 credit cards. And since not all Americans have credit cards, the average number of cards per per person who has at least one credit card is much higher. The banks don’t think it is realistic to expect their average customer to remember that many PINs.

You don’t have to. Every credit card I’ve ever had lets you change the assigned PIN to whatever you want.

@Canadjun

That also applies to most of the restaurants I frequent in Canada. One nice feature of many of those is that they will prompt you for what (if any) tip you want added either as a % of the bill or as a specific amount. I LOVE not having to think about what 15% (or 20% if I am in a good mood) of my bill works out to be!

Yep. I can’t think of any restaurant any more that doesn’t have the portable card readers that they bring to the table. And I do like the “% tip” feature.

@Sparky812

Yep, I just wave either my debit or credit card over the keypad and I’m done.

Not sure what the limit is before some kind of security measure kicks in.

The limit depends on the merchant, but it’s commonly $50. Here in Ontario the LCBO (liquor stores) recently raised it to $100. I’ve had the RFID feature in my credit cards for years but just recently started using it for small purchases and I love it – just tap, listen for the beep, done! I actually think it’s a secret scheme to increase consumer spending because there’s no sense at all that you’re actually paying anything.