Contactless bank cards

[Roland Perry]

In article <20101117122031.GA2834 at snowy.squish.net>, Jon Ribbens 
<jon+ukcrypto at unequivocal.co.uk> writes

>>> Oh, well in small retailers my observation, and also as I understand
>>> it, reality, is that the merchant terminal is usually not connected to
>>> the till and you can put any number of transactions through without
>>> the till knowing anything about it.
>>
>> As the terminal isn't touched by the merchant (unless it's a cordless
>> one) how do they instruct it to initiate a transaction.
>
>My observation is that the terminal certainly is touched by the
>merchant, because they press buttons on it to enter the amount to be
>debited.

We clearly live in parallel universes, because I've never seen a 
merchant do that (other than for a cordless terminal). And I always take 
a close interest in what's going on with C&P transactions.

>Yes there are also integrated tills/terminals where they just press
>one button and it activates the terminal automatically, but I have
>seen that more often in larger shops or chains, whereas in small
>independent shops they tend to have the non-integrated type that
>the bank sells/rents to you when you open your merchant account.

Admittedly, I don't use a CC in small independent shops very often. But 
I did once report an off-licence for grabbing my card and swiping it 
behind the counter, as well as asking me to use the PIN pad. (The CC 
company issued me a new card immediately, and the shop went out of 
business about a year later).
-- 
Roland Perry