An Age of Magic

Card readers for your credit cards

The roll-out of the card reader devices for credit and debit cards is getting underway in the UK at the moment.

What are they? Well, your bank will send you a little device which you insert your card in, key in your PIN and it’ll generate a number that you can use in one online purchase. Why? Well, it’s to improve security in the increasing number of customer not present transactions that all of us make these days every time we buy something online.

Obviously, this’ll require updating of the online purchase systems and will take some time to roll out (even chip & PIN isn’t fully implemented yet and it started some years back).

Now, the big question is who’s going to pay for these little devices. Well, naturally, it’ll be the customers either directly or indirectly. I’m lucky in that the Nationwide is supposedly posting my first one of them fairly soon and seemingly without charge. Even the free ones will need batteries though so add yet another cost to running your accounts and, of course, the battery is sure to run out just as you’re about to buy something online.

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