[thisnthat]

I went to a shop a while back and when I was ready to pay, I asked if they take bank cards. The person at the counter said yes, so I handed over my card. She proceeded to plug something into her phone, and swiped my card.

How safe are these things? I imagine only as safe as the person's phone (which probably isn't very safe with most people).

If I had known what she was using, I probably would have used another form of payment.

[skysnap]

Stripe started as that provider and I am guessing it still does that. For small business stripe does offer that functionality. Most of the petrol pump (gas station for us readers lol) make use of such card swipe boxes. And that works for them just fine. It is secure because for every transaction you have two factor auth code now. So one needs card and your mobile so its safe. Atleast in india thats the way it works.

[oldbuddy]

PayPal offers those readers on their website, so I am sure they wouldn't do that if they were not safe. All the credit cards I know of provide reimbursement for fraud, so we really have no need to worry.

[ceci]

Which country are you staying? We have this simply credit card payment device here too, Malaysia.

[Angie10]

I've never heard of that before, @thisnthat. But I too would have been a little nervous, for sure. If it's something new, I think it would be nice if the tellers explained how the whole system works to put your mind at ease. I wonder if that method of processing payments makes us more vulnerable.

[TimeRider]

You know it's secure as far you know where the money is going. You could talk to your Bank for more about this?

[thisnthat]

I've never heard of that before, @thisnthat. But I too would have been a little nervous, for sure. If it's something new, I think it would be nice if the tellers explained how the whole system works to put your mind at ease. I wonder if that method of processing payments makes us more vulnerable.

I imagine that the systems themselves have safeguards. My concern is how casual some people are with their phones. If the person doesn't have good phone security practices, I don't really want them having my info.

We just had issues with (attempted) fraudulent use of a card, so I'm cautious. Not saying it had anything to do with this system, just being more cautious about it altogether now.

[oldbuddy]

I've never heard of that before, @thisnthat. But I too would have been a little nervous, for sure. If it's something new, I think it would be nice if the tellers explained how the whole system works to put your mind at ease. I wonder if that method of processing payments makes us more vulnerable.

I imagine that the systems themselves have safeguards. My concern is how casual some people are with their phones. If the person doesn't have good phone security practices, I don't really want them having my info.

We just had issues with (attempted) fraudulent use of a card, so I'm cautious. Not saying it had anything to do with this system, just being more cautious about it altogether now.

Just because they scan your credit card does not mean they have your data, it transmits it to the bank over a secure connection. However, do you realize how many frauds started by collecting the carbon receipts from the dumpster of your favorite restaurant? That is much more secure now, but I bet it still happens.

[thisnthat]

That's true. There is always a way for scammers to scam if they want to badly enough. Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of the process, which is why I asked if they are safe.

[FuZyOn]

It's pretty safe as far as I'm concerned, although I know how shady it looks (you might be thinking that she's storing your card details on the phone). I think the phones that they're given are only used for payment processing and they're pretty safe.

[oldbuddy]

For establishments that take a lot of credit/debit card transactions, I like the newer devices that are hand held and only slightly larger than a phone. There are dedicated to that purpose and the last time we ate out the waitress brought it to my table and even handed it to me to enter the tip. Very cool!

[darkfran85]

Both things are good but is a decision personal any option is good in my opinion