I stopped to refuel at a Shell Garage one night. I had the family in the car with me.
The Garage owner didnt know me from Adam. After fully fuelling the car I went in to pay. I put my card in the machine and typed in the pin... to my other card.... twice... then a third time. I'd not done it deliberately and didnt realise my mistake. I was
sure that was my pin number... I even commented on it to the guy.
So anyways, card locks out. I stand there miffed. miffed and uneasy to be honest.. I no doubt looked it too.
'Dont worry.. I'll just print it for you.' So he did. manually doing the business and making the transaction go thru.
I walked back to the car rather confused. Here was I using the wrong number for a credit card, yet no one batted an eyelid. The guy didnt even check my signature against the card, despite the fact I'd acted in a highly suspicious manner at a late hour.
Ive never heard from Visa about it. I phoned them and enquired whether there was any suspicious activity on my card. They flatly replied they saw nothing untoward and why?
So there you have it. if you lose your banking identity, you're basically fekked.
If these things fail, why do lights not flash, telephone calls have to be made to confirm the card carrier? it's all shady and scarily easy to use in an untoward manner.
Over the phone is even easier, you dont need to even have the card to hand, just the details!
I can see the card reader being useful and adding to security, but will it really make that much difference? I doubt it.
Phone the vendor 'Err yeah I messed up my pin number, i really need the goods, can you manually carry out the transaction mate?' I guarantee they will. Pass up a sale? naah. I may even give it a try if i get the chance. I bet i can still purchase goods from an internet supplier if I mess my pin number up when entering it..