EFTPOS not accepted in Canberra?

m_ratt said :

maxblues said :

This week in Canberra, one of our staff rang police to report a fraudulent Pay Wave transaction but the police were reluctant to act.

Why would you bother trying to report a transaction?
Sure, report the card stolen; but if you’ve done your bit and reported it to the card owner (the issuer, ie, your bank), then it’s not your money to worry about. What exactly are the police supposed to to about it? Waste hundreds of dollars of scarce police time to investigate a <$100 purchase which will be written off by the bank?

The card issuers have done their research and have obviously decided that any additional (I'm less than convinced there's actually any additional risk) risk of loss is more than worth the reward from increased revenue from card use through convenience to card holders.

If they issuers were worried, they wouldn't offer it.

We report it to police because it is not just about one transaction, the offenders make a living by stealing cards and using them all day everyday. When a Police service calls on banks to withdraw the technology, it is time to sit up and take notice.

tommo said :

On the split bills thing, I agree 10 people splitting a $50 bill is ridiculous, but at the same time 10 people not being allowed to split a $500 is also ridiculous.

The problem with bill splitting is not the charges that go with it. It is the dishonest people before them who have not paid for all of their items, leaving the last person in line to pay the outstanding items on the bill. And that last person (understandably) makes a big scene about it with the vendor. I totally agree with the no bill splitting policy.

maxblues said :

This week in Canberra, one of our staff rang police to report a fraudulent Pay Wave transaction but the police were reluctant to act.

Why would you bother trying to report a transaction?
Sure, report the card stolen; but if you’ve done your bit and reported it to the card owner (the issuer, ie, your bank), then it’s not your money to worry about. What exactly are the police supposed to to about it? Waste hundreds of dollars of scarce police time to investigate a <$100 purchase which will be written off by the bank?

The card issuers have done their research and have obviously decided that any additional (I'm less than convinced there's actually any additional risk) risk of loss is more than worth the reward from increased revenue from card use through convenience to card holders.

If they issuers were worried, they wouldn't offer it.

cmb said :

If the paywave machine can read your credit card via simple proximity, so can a properly equipped thief.

On balance, it’s fairly safe as a payment method, but it’s not anywhere near as secure as the banks would have you believe.

The banks wear the risk associated with paypass fraud. And how much security did the old system of requring a signature really provide?

The quotes got screwed up last time, so I’ll try again:

At least with the signature system, you actually needed physical access to the card, and the card still needs to be swiped through the EFTPOS terminal. With Paywave, you can make a transaction without the cashier ever having to actually see the card.

The issue is more about how easy it would be to steal your card details without having physical access to it.

cmb said :

If the paywave machine can read your credit card via simple proximity, so can a properly equipped thief.

On balance, it’s fairly safe as a payment method, but it’s not anywhere near as secure as the banks would have you believe.

The banks wear the risk associated with paypass fraud. And how much security did the old system of requring a signature really provide?

At least with the signature system, you actually needed physical access to the card, and the card still needs to be swiped through the EFTPOS terminal. With Paywave, you can make a transaction without the cashier ever having to actually see the card.

The issue is more about how easy it would be to steal your card details without having physical access to it.

RadioVK said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Only the most gigantic of paranoid morons fear pay wave.

Embrace science, idiots.

You might not be saying that if you actually understood the technology.

If the paywave machine can read your credit card via simple proximity, so can a properly equipped thief.

The only redeeming features is that the amount of financial damage that can be done with the information stolen via paywave is limited due to the transaction limits imposed on paywave transactions, and the fact that the banks policy on fraudulent transactions is quite generous.

On balance, it’s fairly safe as a payment method, but it’s not anywhere near as secure as the banks would have you believe.

WIN Early News has reported that Victorian Police have held a press conference to proclaim that eftpos fraud is up 30% since the introduction of Pay Wave and are calling on banks to withdraw the Pay Wave technology. This week in Canberra, one of our staff rang police to report a fraudulent Pay Wave transaction but the police were reluctant to act.