Contactless cards

[TopStar74]

I am intrigued. Never knew about data security risks. Been a convert from day one, when my bank issued one to me with instructions on how to use it. I loved the convenience of it. I am surprised people say it does not take lesser time than chip and pin. YES IT DOES! It takes a lot less time and I am not the one who has ever forgotten pin, or does not know which way the card needs to be inserted or calls the wife. I have found it a lot more convenient and often wondered why the limit does not increase to 50 pounds. Obviously, I am not aware of the risks, and I am sure there is a reason why the limit is 30 pounds right now. However, I am completely happy with contactless and have had no problems, just a quicker, simpler experience.

[melonfool]

I am getting the impression from a number of posts that the contactless card receipt is not important. This ties in with my recent experience at my local Supermarket. A young lady in front of me paid with a chip and pin card but waved the proffered receipt away!
Coming back to cash. When you run out of cash you know you have run out. All these small contactless transactions can add up.
How do you keep control of your spending?

Personally, I use my memory. Though I appreciate it is not infallible and that it may be less and less infallible as I get older.

While I don't care if they forget to bill me something, I would notice a rogue extra entry. As for 'my spending', I just know how much I can spend in a month. The grocery shopping is however much it costs, unless I start buying champagne and caviar I am lucky enough not to have to think about the overall cost very much though I do get a receipt for that and check it, and watch as stuff goes through the till.

Small spends do add up. But personally I just make very few and have set parameters - e.g. £10 max for a take away lunch, but it's more usually around £7, though I resent even that so when I had to get one Monday it was £3.95 (I know, sitting here, three days later, exactly how much it was, and I have seen the transaction on my bank account because I have checked on the app since then).

I buy the odd dress for work, my dress spend limit is £40, but they are more usually £30-35. OK, if I bought 10 the individual price would not be the issue, but I don't buy ten. I recently bought 4. I sent two back. One was £35, I think the other was £25. I can spend around £200pm on clothes without worrying my budget (should I wish, I rarely do of course, though a pair of shoes can push it up a lot).

Anyway, even when I did collect receipts I didn't go through them all and check my spending. Well, I did when I was broke, but that's been many years now.

Mel

[Gfplux]

I am getting the impression from a number of posts that the contactless card receipt is not important. This ties in with my recent experience at my local Supermarket. A young lady in front of me paid with a chip and pin card but waved the proffered receipt away!
Coming back to cash. When you run out of cash you know you have run out. All these small contactless transactions can add up.
How do you keep control of your spending?

Personally, I use my memory. Though I appreciate it is not infallible and that it may be less and less infallible as I get older.

While I don't care if they forget to bill me something, I would notice a rogue extra entry. As for 'my spending', I just know how much I can spend in a month. The grocery shopping is however much it costs, unless I start buying champagne and caviar I am lucky enough not to have to think about the overall cost very much though I do get a receipt for that and check it, and watch as stuff goes through the till.

Small spends do add up. But personally I just make very few and have set parameters - e.g. £10 max for a take away lunch, but it's more usually around £7, though I resent even that so when I had to get one Monday it was £3.95 (I know, sitting here, three days later, exactly how much it was, and I have seen the transaction on my bank account because I have checked on the app since then).

I buy the odd dress for work, my dress spend limit is £40, but they are more usually £30-35. OK, if I bought 10 the individual price would not be the issue, but I don't buy ten. I recently bought 4. I sent two back. One was £35, I think the other was £25. I can spend around £200pm on clothes without worrying my budget (should I wish, I rarely do of course, though a pair of shoes can push it up a lot).

Anyway, even when I did collect receipts I didn't go through them all and check my spending. Well, I did when I was broke, but that's been many years now.

Mel

Isn't the idea that collecting credit card receipts and checking them off every month (as I have done since my first card +40 years ago) ensures you are never broke.
I am like you in a good place concerning money but the fear of debt and or poverty keeps me checking off those bits of paper.
Those of us like you with a good memory or me with my anal attention to bits of paper may never have a problem but in the end some people will.
I now see that in some instances you may have to ASK for the cc slip. Being a grumpy old man, I think that is a road to hell.

[LadyGagarin]

[DevilsAdvocate]
How much cash have you got in your purse? That can be stolen easily. Or pilfered by shop staff. And you have no hope of catching the culprit, or tracing or reversing the transactions. All of which are relatively easy with a contactless card. Do you not care about getting your money back, or catching criminals?
[EndDevilsAdvocate]

Gryff

Currently I have less than £10 in my purse. I have more in my current account, but most of that is earmarked for essential spending and if the latter were to be stolen, it could potentially place me in considerable difficulties whilst I waited to find out if I could recover the money.

[LadyGagarin]

I have to say I find it baffling that so many people apparently don't care if they are defrauded of 'minor' amounts such as £15 at a time. Especially young people, allegedly - who are these reckless youths, who have so much money they aren't bothered what happens to it? Yet the whole USP of contactless seems to be that 'only' £15 a time, or maximum £90 per day, can be stolen, as if that doesn't matter.

It's also a bit of a generalization that teenagers/students in general are blase about the risks of contactless cards. As my daughter (aged 14) pointed out when offered one, it would be blatantly asking for trouble if, say, she took hers to school intending to use it on the way home - the rule in most schools is, if it isn't nailed down...and once taken, it could be several fraudulent transactions later before she discovered and reported the loss - by which time, her limited funds would have been totally cleaned out, with no watertight guarantee of being recovered.

Eh? Who doesn't care? Who is being defrauded? I don't understand your comment.

I use contactless cards all the time and have not been defrauded.

It's £30 limit now anyway, and very handy it is too.

No-one I know says it doesn't matter and banks refund fraudulent losses.

Mel

My point was that one of the selling points banks use when offering customers a contactless card is that 'only' a certain amount can be taken per transaction.Whether that be £15, £30, or whatever. If however that happens to be a £15/£30 that you really need, or even your last £15/£30 to get you through till payday, you can't necessarily afford to wait around for your bank to process your claim of fraud and refund the money (or possibly not refund it). IME, the bank will often make you take time off to go and visit them in person to sort it out, so if your school/college/boss won't allow it, you're stuffed. And young people, who tend to earn less, are liable to be hit harder, since they generally don't have much in the way of savings to tide them over in the meantime.

[melonfool]

My point was that one of the selling points banks use when offering customers a contactless card is that 'only' a certain amount can be taken per transaction.Whether that be £15, £30, or whatever. If however that happens to be a £15/£30 that you really need, or even your last £15/£30 to get you through till payday, you can't necessarily afford to wait around for your bank to process your claim of fraud and refund the money (or possibly not refund it). IME, the bank will often make you take time off to go and visit them in person to sort it out, so if your school/college/boss won't allow it, you're stuffed. And young people, who tend to earn less, are liable to be hit harder, since they generally don't have much in the way of savings to tide them over in the meantime.

I've had fraudulent transactions on credit cards and bank accounts and I've never been asked to go into a branch to sort it out, always been done by phone and post.

Mel