Cash

[Marla_Singer]

@Marla: Purely out of curiosity, was there some form of competition or bidding war to determine that it was Visa who won the privilege of endorsing your Carte Bleue's? Either way, I'd probably prefer something similar to that over magnetic strips, but I'm just curious about that aspect...

Honnestly I have never wondered this. The carte bleue is an agreement between several private banks. I guess they've negociated with several credit card companies and that Visa had won the bid. Now that I think about it, it's true that this had been a great thing for Visa, they've got the whole French market this way. When we know that most countries around tend to use Eurocard/Mastercard, it's clear Visa had won a juicy contract there.

 

[stormbind]

The UK microchips are issued by individual banks with no special allegiance. Obviously all chips conform to an open standard in the same way that magnetic strips do, but they are not all Visa and we have no Carte Bleue.

Delta, Visa, Switch, Mastercard are most popular in the UK.

 

[Marla_Singer]

The UK uses those too, with the square gold-coloured microprocessor in them. Before that, the same solution was used for BT (British Telecom / Bee Tea) phone cards.

However, what banks claim is untrue: they are not safe!

To maintain compatibility with legacy magnetic strips used by American tourists, all of our microchip bank cards have a magnetic strip on them. Machines check the magnetic strip for a digital flag (0/1, yes/no) to see if a chip present.

Our microchip cards can be easily copied by cloning the magnetic strip, but changing the digital flag when writing the copy

The cloned cards works just like a legacy magnetic strip card, so security has not improved. You can get the software which edits flags online.

You should have read fully my post. What you're saying is exactly what happened to me in Italy this summer.

But i gets worse, because now we have to punch in a four digit code at every shop - with how many people and cameras watching the buttons we press?

Well, usually you don't type your code on big open buttons... it's relatively hidden. I don't really bother about this.

American banks have refused to invest in the microchips, so tourists will continue to bring their magnetic strips to Europe, and American ATM machines will continue to require that European visitors bring the old style cards

Yeah. In Italy everything remains magnetic. As long as microchips cards won't spread worldwide, it will be impossible to have a fully international card with no magnetic strip.

 

[stormbind]

I thought I was elaborating by explaining how it is possible to copy the newer cards

Smaller off-licenses/newsagents in larger cities are the biggest threat of causing similar fraud in the UK, but I would guess tourists do not frequent them

American banks are a bigger issue because their policies influence a larger group of people. Italy sounds like a thorn in our side

What about German banks?

 

[Narz]

Almost always debit card.

I keep four or five bucks with me in case I need a dollar store item and I have a jar of coins at home.

 

[Marla_Singer]

I thought I was elaborating by explaining how it is possible to copy the newer cards

Well, what you call "newer cards" is the card I have. Cartes bleues with electronic micropuce exist since the 80's... so their "newness" is all relative.

 

[stormbind]

Well, what you call "newer cards" is the card I have. Cartes bleues with electronic micropuce exist since the 80's... so their "newness" is all relative.

"We have made contact with the French"

"We are technologically backwards"

I have not been the UK that long. It seems the take-up of microchips is relatively recent: perhaps around 2000, but I do not really know.

 

[Marla_Singer]

"We have made contact with the French"

"We are technologically backwards"

I have not been the UK that long. It seems the take-up of microchips is relatively recent: perhaps around 2000, but I do not really know.

Well, don't worry. French technology advance is really all relative, and when a technology is spread firstly in France, it generally screws up. For instance, the guy who invented those micropuces was actually a French guy. However, he has sold his invention for nothing and is now poor and lonely.

That kind of story would never happen in the US or in Britain.

 

[GenMarshall]

I often have a reserve of bills in my wallet since that is what I use most of the time. I use my debit card when paying for gas at the pump. All I do is swipe the card and gas up .

but I don't buy too much...cept for gas...I spend a lot of cash on gas...

Better save your pennies since were getting into a gas crunch right now where the price of gas is pushing to $3.00 per gal .

 

[Nobody]

half n half, i get 240 a week (i got no problem saying that) then i take out 100, leave the rest in their for the bank to attack and after that i have 80 left in there.

 

[Dida]

I usually carries around 100 to 200 with me. but no more than that.

 

[Keshik]

I hardly ever have any on me... since I got married!

 

[A'AbarachAmadan]

I almost never carry dollars when in the US. Credit card (with airline miles) for everything - much easier to track where I waste money. However, in Okinawa I've found it to be a generally cash society, so I do here.

 

[Bigfoot]

I hardly ever have any on me... since I got married!

I usually carry $20-$40, but I make most purchases with an ATM card.

 

[antonio]

For instance, the guy who invented those micropuces was actually a French guy. However, he has sold his invention for nothing and is now poor and lonely.

That kind of story would never happen in the US or in Britain.

The guy who invented the jet engine gave it away for free and was british. Well it was kind of taken from him by the ministry of defence as I recall.

 

[Rambuchan]

Just to answer this a little less flippantly:

Cash - Yes I always have some on me. I deliberately try and keep this amount below three figures (£100), unless I'm off on a massive night out which involved drinks, cabs etc, in which case I have to take more but that's the only time. I use this cash for day to day little shop stuff. I can't bring myself to pay with a card for a pack of chewing gum and a newspaper.

Debit Card: This is the one! Anything over £10 and I whip this baby out. This is what I use all the time and would prefer to use it in more places. Those golden chips Marla - they are only safe until the fraudsters work out how to crack them. Then the new thing will come out. It's a never ending game.

Credit Card: I only use this for monthly music purchases, I pay off the amount I spent that month on the first day of the next. I simply use this credit card to keep my credit rating looking nice. They are the evil though I swear it.

 

[Maniacal]

Cash, but I don't spend much money, or if I do then I know what I'm buying.

 

[Plexus]

Cash, but I attribute that to not having a debit card.

 

[WickedSmurf]

Usually I only carry around €20-30 in cash. I prefer paying with card. Cash is so.. so... obsolete.

 

[Mise]

If I have enough cash I'll pay with that, but normally I don't carry more than £10 on me, which is enough for food but not enough for CDs or clothes or whatever else I feel like buying.