Payment (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/comicstrips@lemmy.world
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[+] 83 points 9 months ago (20 children)
  • [–] 23 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (17 children)

    Not strictly true.

    If you have a card long enough (several years between issue and expiry, say) and you use it often enough, the magnetic strip can start to fade and transactions can fail. More and more often. Edit: It might have been a chip problem rather than a magnetic strip problem. I can't remember now, but it makes no real difference to the story.

    And sometimes there might be weeks with no trouble and then you'll get that one card reader that's particularly finicky and there's a cold sweat moment as you realise you don't have enough cash. "Try it again. It's done this before." Please work. Pleeease.

    This usually happened to me in the supermarket, so that scene from InnerSpace was playing on loop in my head.

    After the third or fourth time, I called the bank and they sent me a new one ASAP.

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  • [–] 7 points 9 months ago (6 children)

    Magnetic strip? Is that still a thing? All terminals I've seen in the last decade or two use the smart card or the NFC. Magnetic strip is insecure.

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  • [–] 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

    Magnetic Stripe is still used in the US as a backup because some places still don't have the chip nor rfid thing in their transation terminals.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago (2 children)

    My card doesn’t even have a mag stripe

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  • [–] 4 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    This was a long time ago. I think the replacement card I got was the first I got that had a chip in it.

    Or I'm misremembering and it was the chip on the card that was acting strangely. Either way, the card was basically worn out.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago

    Definitely used to be big issues with the magnetic strip. Some cashiers who deal with it enough even had tricks to help the card be read. Like using a pizza slice baggy.

    Or just shitty cards readers.

    Chips and contactless are so much better

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago (4 children)

    The little chip contact on my debit card started getting flaky with certain machines. Finally, it wouldn't work at all, and I had to use my credit card to pay for groceries. I never use my credit card, I wasn't even sure it still worked. Then I had to remember to pay my credit card before the end of the month.

    The only other time I replaced a debit card is when I lost one. When I chose the "lost or stolen" option from the dropdown, my card was immediately canceled, and I got the message I'd get a new one in the mail in a few days. I had to use my coin stash to put gas in my car, and I ate from the back of the pantry till the card showed up. Cut it close there, I didn't know that was going to happen, and didn't plan ahead.

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  • [–] 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    Two comments for you:

    1. Using your credit card for all that incidental stuff and paying it off in full each month is a good way to build a good credit history/score.

    2. If you lose you card again, remember that you can withdraw cash without it by going into the bank.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    No, actually you still don't get it.
    your mild inconvenience of your card not working, does not compare to the dread of not knowing if you will eat today, and by the way, the cashier KNOWS if your card is not working or the payment is rejected. so, you can add that shame to the experience.

    Lesson here: you're not actually smarter than the person you replied to, just more ignorant of other peoples lives.

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago

    No. You're right. I'll never completely understand until my bank account goes negative. Or I have no bank account. And I have to go a day or more without eating.

    But I do have anxiety. And a very limited income. My grocery shop spend for two weeks now is about the same price as I paid for one week, fifteen years ago. I have to budget every little thing.

    So while I can't fully understand, I have more understanding than you think I do, and it's not just me that needs to be careful about ignorance.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago*

    I spend from a different bank account than the one I get my paycheck in, so I need to refill my spending account periodically.

    Usually when I try to pay and it's declined. So I get declined from time to time, and it's not because I'm broke. It course I'm not explaining all that to a cashier, instead I just panic.

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