Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Status
The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.

garyjones027

macrumors regular
May 4, 2023
127
127
There are some businesses in the USA that ended during the pandemic and after the pandemic because these businesses did not have the money to upgrade their old credit card machines from 1980s.


IMG_0004.jpeg



 
Last edited:

tmiw

macrumors 68030
Jun 26, 2007
2,544
612
San Diego, CA
Rare? I just listed 16 sit down resturant chaines, each with hundreds of locations that take contactless payments at the table. There are probably more I don't know about.

If this is to be believed, that's still a small fraction of the million or so restaurant locations in the US (and would still be a pretty small number if we just count chain restaurants).

As far as the liability shift, many restrants did not upgrade equipment, and ignored the mandate. I know of a few chains that still only take magstripe cards. I know a few more that only recently upgraded to chip readers in the last few months. It's probably because card fraud is probably rare at resturants. It's more common at gas stations and convenience stores.

They might have adopted it more slowly than most other stores but many restaurants eventually did so. Note that a lot of the newer ones (which presumably just got chip-enabled stuff from the outset) still take cards away, at least in my experience.

There are some merchants in the USA that ran out of business during the pandemic and after the pandemic because they did not have the money to upgrade their old credit card machines from 1980s.

I'm going to guess that's not the main reason why they went under considering that the knucklebusters and the square Verifone readers like the pictures posted above generally hadn't been a thing for close to a decade if not longer beforehand.
 

michaelsanchez0027

macrumors newbie
Jun 4, 2023
24
25
The problem is that american restaurants refuse to do it the right way: in the rest of the world you don’t see those tablets, but rather you order and eat the usual way and at the end instead of taking the card the waiter/waitress just brings over a small card reader such as this one:
View attachment 2314907

which they also operate for you and all you do is insert your card (or tap your card/phone/watch) and maybe enter your pin if necessary. However, not a single restaurant in the US does this; they simply refuse to evolve past 1999 except for the few that have the bulky tablets on the tables.

In Canada, most restaurants use tablets if you pay by card. You pay in the table.

When I visit the restaurants of USA, I always say if they accept Apple Pay to make sure that the waiters do not take my card.

When I use Apple Pay in the restaurants of USA waiter takes me to the kitchen to pay.

After that experience, I understand why the USA way of life is sometimes careless as compared to other developed countries.

It is like the song “This is America” by Childish Gambino can be used to describe USA society.
 
Last edited:

erihp

macrumors 6502a
Apr 21, 2020
757
612
This whole fear of giving your card to a waiter seems pretty overblown to me. Especially with modern day transaction monitoring and ease of filing for a fraudulent charge or transaction dispute, I don't even think twice about it. Plus, when paying by credit card, its not even your money at risk. I'd be more concerned with third party data breaches / exposures (entirely out of your control) than some network of unscrupulous waiters running a credit card fraud ring skimming and cloning magstripes on cards.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AeroSatan

tmiw

macrumors 68030
Jun 26, 2007
2,544
612
San Diego, CA
This whole fear of giving your card to a waiter seems pretty overblown to me. Especially with modern day transaction monitoring and ease of filing for a fraudulent charge or transaction dispute, I don't even think twice about it. Plus, when paying by credit card, its not even your money at risk. I'd be more concerned with third party data breaches / exposures (entirely out of your control) than some network of unscrupulous waiters running a credit card fraud ring skimming and cloning magstripes on cards.

Maybe, but I still think pay at the table (even if it was just QR based) is a good idea to avoid mistakes transcribing tip (i.e. due to bad handwriting).
 

dontwalkhand

macrumors 603
Jul 5, 2007
6,462
3,003
Phoenix, AZ
This whole fear of giving your card to a waiter seems pretty overblown to me. Especially with modern day transaction monitoring and ease of filing for a fraudulent charge or transaction dispute, I don't even think twice about it. Plus, when paying by credit card, it's not even your money at risk. I'd be more concerned with third party data breaches / exposures (entirely out of your control) than some network of unscrupulous waiters running a credit card fraud ring skimming and cloning magstripes on cards.
It is definitely not overblown in terms of being able to use and carry nothing but your iPhone when leaving the house. Thankfully at the very least I have seen QR code on the check becoming more and more normal. In places where they don't have that, I can usually walk up with the server to use Apple Pay, but its less than ideal, and prefer to do this at the table.
 

erihp

macrumors 6502a
Apr 21, 2020
757
612
It is definitely not overblown in terms of being able to use and carry nothing but your iPhone when leaving the house. Thankfully at the very least I have seen QR code on the check becoming more and more normal. In places where they don't have that, I can usually walk up with the server to use Apple Pay, but its less than ideal, and prefer to do this at the table.

Fair point, it is convenient to not have to bring a physical card. But until all 50 states allow electronic ID/drivers licenses, bringing a card is just a part of life. Plus if the phone battery dies, youll have a backup plan instead of being relegated to washing dishes.
 

lartola

macrumors 68020
Feb 10, 2017
2,161
1,081
This whole fear of giving your card to a waiter seems pretty overblown to me. Especially with modern day transaction monitoring and ease of filing for a fraudulent charge or transaction dispute, I don't even think twice about it. Plus, when paying by credit card, its not even your money at risk. I'd be more concerned with third party data breaches / exposures (entirely out of your control) than some network of unscrupulous waiters running a credit card fraud ring skimming and cloning magstripes on cards.


It’s still not a good idea by any standard to take cards away, besides it’s outdated. The rest of the world changed that for a reason, only the US refuses to evolve based on not very solid grounds. Talk about american arrogance.
 

tmiw

macrumors 68030
Jun 26, 2007
2,544
612
San Diego, CA
It is definitely not overblown in terms of being able to use and carry nothing but your iPhone when leaving the house. Thankfully at the very least I have seen QR code on the check becoming more and more normal. In places where they don't have that, I can usually walk up with the server to use Apple Pay, but its less than ideal, and prefer to do this at the table.

IMO Apple should help standardize QR code payments for this purpose since apparently restaurants aren't adopting NFC anywhere near quickly enough. Plus, people would trust payment through a native iPhone UI more vs. through some website (even if the latter still uses Apple Pay).
 
  • Like
Reactions: erihp

erihp

macrumors 6502a
Apr 21, 2020
757
612
It’s still not a good idea by any standard to take cards away, besides it’s outdated. The rest of the world changed that for a reason, only the US refuses to evolve based on not very solid grounds. Talk about american arrogance.
Says who? I dont see the clear problem.

Perhaps its more inefficient but some people prefer to not have to the transaction occur at the table. I quite like being presented with a simple piece of paper and take my time prioritizing when I'm ready to sign the check and add/calculate gratuity. Especially when compared to being handed a clunky device with a bright screen expected to tap away while the waitstaff lingers there in wait.

Is that 'American arrogance'? You might be taking this too far.
 
Last edited:

dontwalkhand

macrumors 603
Jul 5, 2007
6,462
3,003
Phoenix, AZ
Fair point, it is convenient to not have to bring a physical card. But until all 50 states allow electronic ID/drivers licenses, bringing a card is just a part of life. Plus if the phone battery dies, youll have a backup plan instead of being relegated to washing dishes.
We gotta start somewhere though. My state (AZ) has both Apple Wallet ID for TSA and a visual inspection ID app (an app that shows your ID as if it’s the physical card). We also have an Apple Pay enabled transit app for the bus and the train.

One also could just leave a physical ID in the car.

Which allows me to leave the house with nothing but my phone, if I avoid the places that absolutely doesn’t have Apple Pay….which is thankfully very very little.
 

michaelsmith0027

macrumors newbie
Jun 4, 2023
6
5
We gotta start somewhere though. My state (AZ) has both Apple Wallet ID for TSA and a visual inspection ID app (an app that shows your ID as if it’s the physical card). We also have an Apple Pay enabled transit app for the bus and the train.

One also could just leave a physical ID in the car.

Which allows me to leave the house with nothing but my phone, if I avoid the places that absolutely doesn’t have Apple Pay….which is thankfully very very little.

Only 4 USA states allow ID cards and driver licenses to be stored in iphones and Samsung phones: Georgia, Colorado, Arizona, and Maryland.

I don't think more USA states will follow this path. This is because, in the age of the Donald Trump and Covid pandemic in USA society, Americans are paranoid and skeptical on everything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: garyjones027

echopulse

macrumors regular
Aug 7, 2021
237
141
Abilene, TX
That's incorrect. 11 states already have ID's that can be stored on your phone.

AZ, AR, CO, CT, DE, GA, IO, LA, MD, MI, MS, OK, and UT. Some of these have their own app, instead of using the Apple Wallet.

In addtion, 20 more states are beta testing a Mobie ID, or have announced they are working on it.
 

Böhme417

macrumors 65816
Mar 11, 2009
1,054
1,500
Says who? I dont see the clear problem.

Perhaps its more inefficient but some people prefer to not have to the transaction occur at the table. I quite like being presented with a simple piece of paper and take my time prioritizing when I'm ready to sign the check and add/calculate gratuity. Especially when compared to being handed a clunky device with a bright screen expected to tap away while the waitstaff lingers there in wait.

Is that 'American arrogance'? You might be taking this too far.
I do agree that it’s a bit awkward having to do tip while the server stands there and watches over you. That’s why I favor the QR code on the receipt method. Do it on your own time.
 

tmiw

macrumors 68030
Jun 26, 2007
2,544
612
San Diego, CA
I do agree that it’s a bit awkward having to do tip while the server stands there and watches over you. That’s why I favor the QR code on the receipt method. Do it on your own time.

I've had servers leave the device and come back for it before, but that's not common even among the places that do pay at the table (probably because they don't trust customers not to break it).
 

lartola

macrumors 68020
Feb 10, 2017
2,161
1,081
I do agree that it’s a bit awkward having to do tip while the server stands there and watches over you. That’s why I favor the QR code on the receipt method. Do it on your own time.

I prefer to have the tip already included in the total amount charged to my card instead of it being added sometime later. Besides, in most countries the waiters don’t just stand and watch, they process the payment right there for you instead of walking away with your card. All you do is sign the receipt at the end (or enter pin when required).
 

lartola

macrumors 68020
Feb 10, 2017
2,161
1,081
Says who? I dont see the clear problem.

Perhaps its more inefficient but some people prefer to not have to the transaction occur at the table. I quite like being presented with a simple piece of paper and take my time prioritizing when I'm ready to sign the check and add/calculate gratuity. Especially when compared to being handed a clunky device with a bright screen expected to tap away while the waitstaff lingers there in wait.

Is that 'American arrogance'? You might be taking this too far.

If it’s not arrogance it’s stubbornness. Or reluctance to change. Either way it’s bad.
 

garyjones027

macrumors regular
May 4, 2023
127
127
I prefer to have the tip already included in the total amount charged to my card instead of it being added sometime later. Besides, in most countries the waiters don’t just stand and watch, they process the payment right there for you instead of walking away with your card. All you do is sign the receipt at the end (or enter pin when required).

I do not think most restaurants in other countries outside USA let you sign a receipt if you pay by card. In most times, you enter pin number if you pay by card in restaurants outside USA.
 
Last edited:

tmiw

macrumors 68030
Jun 26, 2007
2,544
612
San Diego, CA
I do not think most restaurants in other countries outside USA let you sign a receipt if you pay by card. In most times, you enter pin number if you pay by card if you pay by card in restaurants outside USA.

I mean, if the receipt prints out and has a signature line, places outside the US will make you sign. They might not actually check against the back of your card or anything, but it's not like the rest of the world is basically cash only to Americans or anything.
 

lartola

macrumors 68020
Feb 10, 2017
2,161
1,081
I do not think most restaurants in other countries outside USA let you sign a receipt if you pay by card. In most times, you enter pin number if you pay by card in restaurants outside USA.
That’s set up by the card issuers, though, not the merchants. In countries outside the US most people use pin because their local card issuer requires it. Americans traveling in those countries, however, still don’t need to use pin and will be asked to sign the receipt because US card issuers don’t require them to use a pin to authorize payment on credit cards.

Likewise, foreign travelers in the US will still have to use their pin at US restaurants when they pay with their non-US credit cards, as the restaurants won’t be able to bypass the requirement set by those non-US card issuers like they do with US debit cards.
 
Last edited:

lartola

macrumors 68020
Feb 10, 2017
2,161
1,081
I mean, if the receipt prints out and has a signature line, places outside the US will make you sign. They might not actually check against the back of your card or anything, but it's not like the rest of the world is basically cash only to Americans or anything.

Nor does it mean that people from other countries will be pin-free while they use their cards in the US. How a payment is to be authorized is set up by the card issuers, not the merchants.
 

tmiw

macrumors 68030
Jun 26, 2007
2,544
612
San Diego, CA
I went to a Lowe's today and apparently that location still doesn't accept contactless. (The original rumor was that all locations would have it by Black Friday.) Anyone else see it at theirs yet?
 

michaelsanchez0027

macrumors newbie
Jun 4, 2023
24
25
I went to a Lowe's today and apparently that location still doesn't accept contactless. (The original rumor was that all locations would have it by Black Friday.) Anyone else see it at theirs yet?

It could be a lie all this time by the corporate people of Lowe’s stores in the USA in that they will have contactless payments by end of 2023.
 
  • Like
Reactions: garyjones027

lartola

macrumors 68020
Feb 10, 2017
2,161
1,081
It could be a lie all this time by the corporate people of Lowe’s stores in the USA in that they will have contactless payments by end of 2023.

Or maybe they just meant that they would at least start enabling them by the end of 2023. When they’ve held out for so long and have so many stores it takes them a while to make the change in all the locations. Something similar is happening in Mexico with the Oxxo convenience stores, a local longtime nfc holdout.
 

msackey

macrumors 68030
Oct 8, 2020
2,851
3,284
I remember those 1980s credit card machine very well. There was no way those devices could check on the authenticity of a credit card. The restaurateur had to call in a number at the back of the credit card to verify, if they wanted to. More often than not, they wouldn't because of the volume of business they were experiencing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AeroSatan
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.