Chip and pin

The last HMV I was in, they told me to put the card in the slot myself; but then it couldn't read the chip, and I had to hand the card over for them to check my signature anyway.

your "a friend"/"someone I know"/"etc" frequently make me nervous but not really.

Are HMV chipping and pinning yet? If so I'll buy the £2.99 Knife CD on Switch purely for the novelty factor.

I don't use my card, in shops, that often, though.

Ah, Chip and tease. A few retailers have been ticked off for this.

: ////

What's to stop pretend 'waiters' coming up to you with some contraption and getting you to divulge your PIN? Frankly I think the whole thing is very dangerous.

How odd. I am with the same bank as you, but my last debit card (issued 2002) had no pin. I wonder why they used you as a guinea pig.

the idea of being given a keppad with a 5 mil "barrier" around it to put the number that (as those FUCKING ads keep reminding us) is the most importnant number in our LIVEs and KEEP IT SECRET GET ME, into, in full view of veryone around, including the cashier is quite simply FUCKING RETARDED.

addendum: you might say, "well make sure you hide the numbers you are punching in". I made a habit of this prior to the occasion when in the local newsagent i covered the pad with my hands while typing in (a technique honed in russia) and the shop dude said "you dont need to be so secretive, you can trust me" and everyone in the shop laughred at me for being such a paranoid fuck. so i soon stopped that.

AAAAAAAA THIS MAKES ME SO ANGRY!!!!

the worst thing is those adverts on the telly, theres saftey in numbers. Teres safety for the banks, but as usual this only favurs them, not the consumers.

ambrose, before PIN-world, that dude could have jacked your card any old time and gone on a spending spree just by faking the signature, which is conveniently on the back for him to see. and do you ever see clerks check signatures closely? people can pretty much scribble anything and away you go. and if they want cash they can just get cashback from certain stores. with a PIN, if your card is lost or stolen, it's useless. ok, there is the threat that someone could watch your PIN-entering and then steal your card, but that is far less likely and you can control this. the signature is printed right there on the card!

as regards "I agree with Rob. It's not *that* hard to hide the number you're entering from prying eyes.", its not difficult to do it, but it is difficult to do in any way without feeling or looking incredibly distrustful, paranoid and basically uncomfortable. i enter my pin now for prob about 60% of purchases i make, so i have a great deal of practice!

finally, "With newly issued HSBC Switch cards the chip & pin number is different to cashpoint pin", well doesnt really change much for me (although i got my card before this development). what pisses me off about this whole thing is this reliance on numbers. i have to have a special 6 digit number "that is special/memorable to me" for internet banking, and these Chp and pin ads want you to do the same thing with your card pin. if you have to have different numbers for cash machines and C&P, then thats 2 4 digit numbers that are "memorable" to you. WTF is a memorable number?!?! oh yeah, 3428, what fond memories that as for me!!! i remwember 8543, so significant in my life?!?!!? i dont want everything in my life to boil down to a bunch of shitty 4/6/8 digit numbers that i have to remember.

but ok, im not as angry as i was. the last post was the result of about a months stored up frustration?!

I have an HSBC switch card it uses the same PIN as my cashpoint one by default (I never set this up manually, btw - it just worked).

Pink, no worries - I wasn't taking offence, I was trying to guilt Alba into not being mean to me (I was person number one who mentioned pin numbers to him).

I know it is bad to put your card in yourself, but what's the chip and pin protocol for taking it out? I was hurried along and told to take it yesterday, but usually they hand it back. I'm nervous of just snatching it.

That will be lean on topless women - mostly likely Abi Titty-whatsnername

yes there is a thread on them on ILE when they launched earlier this year.

Anyway, back to the joys of chipping and pinning: sometimes if there is a queue behind me and people want me to hurry up, I panic and my mind goes blank. I can't remember my pin, and I'm too embarrassed to say. The delay is probably only a few seconds but feels like forever. This only used to happen at cashpoints, and there it was ok because it wasn't so obvious to the people queueing. This is the only thing that I don't like about C&P, and it's really something I don't like about me (ie, that I am a dithering faffer who holds up queues).

What is this bad? Surely you're supposed to do this, otherwise the card slot would be nearer to the checkout operator than you. In some places I've been to, the card slot has been too far away from the operator for them to reach.

this is kinda my point, IMO this benefits banks far more than any other poor fucker.

What will using PIN at the point-of-sale be like’?
It will be just like it is today. Except that where you are asked to provide your signature, you will be asked to enter your PIN via a PIN pad instead. In some retail outlets you may be asked to insert the card into the card reader yourself.

What will PIN terminals be like?
You are likely to come into contact with a variety of PIN terminals in different types of shops. Some will have a separate PIN pad that is attached to the till via a wire. Some may combine the card reader with the PIN pad in one unit. Others may have the PIN pad built into the shop counter. The terminals used in restaurants may be wireless so that you can pay whilst sitting at the table without letting your card go out of sight. All PIN terminals will have the same layout of keys and you will be required to enter the same PIN regardless of the design.

When I am at the point-of-sale, will I insert my card into the terminal or will the cashier do it?
This will vary from store to store. In many stores the cashier will continue to handle the card during the transaction, but others will ask you to insert the card yourself.
What will using PIN at the point-of-sale be like’?
It will be just like it is today. Except that where you are asked to provide your signature, you will be asked to enter your PIN via a PIN pad instead. In some retail outlets you may be asked to insert the card into the card reader yourself.

The Bloke and I know each other's secret PIN numbers, so it's handy if he wants me to go to Sainsbury's and buy him crate loads of beer and Motorbiking Monthly magazines for me to take his card instead of having to pay for this rubbish myself. I expect the bank frowns on this sort of thing.