YOU WILL BE SURPRISED AT THIS ... A GRIPE

I'm getting very annoyed at all of the 'improvements' that banking and retailing technology is bringing my way. Here are just two random ones that have managed to get up my nose recently.

Now I very, very rarely eat at McDonald's and at any of the other shit-food takeaway places but today, after a long walk in the midday heat I was both hungry and in need of a cooling drink. I thought that a small-sized milkshake would cater to both of these requirements and so walked in to a McDonald's 'restaurant' on Manners Street. There didn't seem to be any staff to take an order over the counter and all of the customers were ordering food from big screens. I tried this but found that I was unable to do so unless I scanned the McDonald's app from my phone. I refuse to have a McDonald's app on my phone not only because I will, hopefully, never use it but I don't want yet another information stealing app.

I walked out of the joint without ordering and chose to go home and drink a glass of cold water instead.

Last week I was downtown with the car and wanted to buy something in Lambton Quay. I was short of time and didn't want to go all of the way back to the apartment carpark, walk back to Lambton Quay to make the purchase, walk all the way back to Vivian Street to the apartment carpark and then end up being late to meet up with the Crown removal people. I found a carpark only to discover that to use it I had to use a 'Paywave' card or, if I could find one of the rare machines, use coins. I couldn't find one of these rare machines and if I did I had no coins. Who keeps cans nowadays? I have had Paywave disabled on my debit and credit card as well as, patently it's fucking ridiculous. You might as well get a thousand dollars from a money machine and drop it on the footpath. Sheesh! I then went all of the way back to the apartment carpark, walked back to Lambton Quay to make the purchase, walked all the way back to Vivian Street to the apartment carpark and then ended up being late to meet up with the Crown removal people. Sheesh again!

What the fuck is going on? Have I missed something from having lived out in the sticks for the last 16 years?

I've found, over the last week or so that many Wellington retailers are only using Paywave eftpos machines and that they are not set up for swiping a card. I've walked out of food stores because of this and today, when buying a hat the shop assistant had to scrabble under the counter to find an old fashioned 'swipe' eftpos machine. Sheesh yet again!

While Paywave (contactless payment) is a secure and convenient technology with built-in encryption, its primary "dangers" relate to the financial impact of potential fraud if a card is lost or stolen, and the surcharges often passed on to the consumer by merchants.

Security and Fraud Risks
The main security risk stems from the fact that low-value transactions generally do not require a PIN or signature, making it easier for a thief to use a lost or stolen card. Unauthorized Transactions: A person who finds or steals your card can make multiple small purchases (up to a certain limit, e.g., NZ$200) without needing your PIN.
Accidental Scans (Highly Unlikely): While a concern for some, banks and security experts state that accidental "walk-by" purchases are highly unlikely as the card needs to be very close (within a few centimeters) to a payment terminal to work.
Customer Negligence: If a card is lost or stolen, banks typically cover the losses if you have taken reasonable care of your card and reported the loss promptly. However, if negligence can be proven (e.g., waiting a week to cancel the card), you may not recover all the money.Data Vulnerability (Minor): Contactless transactions use unique, encrypted codes that minimize the risk of data interception or reuse, making them less vulnerable to traditional card skimming than swiping a card. Apple Pay and Google Pay add an extra layer of security by tokenizing the transaction, meaning the merchant never sees your real card number.

Financial Dangers
The other significant "danger" of Paywave is the surcharge often applied by merchants to cover the fees they are charged by banks and card networks (like Visa and Mastercard). Extra Cost to Consumers: These surcharges can sometimes be as high as 4% and mean you pay more for the convenience of tapping your card. You can usually avoid this fee by inserting your card or using a different payment method like standard Eftpos or cash.
Potential for Price Increases: If surcharges are banned by regulation (as is being considered in some regions like New Zealand), businesses may simply increase their overall product prices to cover the costs, meaning all consumers (including those paying with cash or standard Eftpos) end up paying more.

Summary

The technology itself is secure, but the primary dangers lie in the easewith which an unauthorised person can use a physical card for small transactions and the potential for unexpected surcharges. You can protect yourself by treating your card with care and checking for surcharges before you tap.