Comments on uselog.com | the product usability weblog: Swiping or dipping? Which is more secure?

Swiping is common in New Zealand ...and has it'...

2011-06-08T15:10:01.057+02:00

Swiping is common in New Zealand ...and has it's own issues.

Luckily the average Kiwi shop-owner is crafty enough to hack the designs using home made labels.

Check this article about usability of payment terminals in NZ

In Portugal we've had those cards for years no...

2011-06-07T18:01:03.648+02:00

In Portugal we've had those cards for years now.
The sollution we have here is that the receipt is not printed until you remove your card.
To help removing the card, it shows a message like "PLEASE REMOVE YOUR CARD" and the machine also beeps, so if you don't read the message, you know that when it beeps, you can safely remove the card (and it won't stop beeping until the card is removed).

As removing the card is a sign you do not want to ...

2011-06-07T07:14:17.883+02:00

As removing the card is a sign you do not want to complete the transaction it would not be advisable to enable the transaction to be completed in any shape or form without the card being present. That being said, the change to chip and pin in the UK has done very little to improve security, all it has achieved is that the banks blame the customer for fraudulent activity rather than taking the blame themselves. Many times it has been shown that there are many fraudulent transactions using chip and pin that the cardholder has not authorised but is now forced to pay for as the bank refuse to accept that there could be any possible fault with chip and pin.

If I understand the technology correctly, removing...

2011-06-06T18:01:34.943+02:00

If I understand the technology correctly, removing the card before entering the code is not possible and would negate all the security benefits of chip-based identification.

However, as others have said, it does not seem to be an issue in other countries (I can add France to the list). It's the idea of removing the card immediately that I found quite surprising when coming to the Netherlands.

A simple mechanism to address the issue is to make sure the payment is not confirmed/ticket not printed before the card is removed from the terminal, much in the same way that ATMs work. When withdrawing cash, you have to remove the card to get your money and I think that point-of-sale terminals in many countries work that way as well.

The rationale being that you want to pay or get cash and won't leave without doing it but could forget anything coming after you've achieved your main goal (it's called a "post-completion error").

I'd have to see design of the procedure in the...

2011-06-06T11:37:20.770+02:00

I'd have to see design of the procedure in these other countries to be able to judge it properly (remove card first or enter code first, etc), but maybe forgetting the card in the reader is a transition thing then.

I agree to alastairc. I've never seen people f...

2011-06-05T13:04:02.699+02:00

I agree to alastairc. I've never seen people forget their card on my trips in Sweden, UK, Spain or other countries where people already use the chip

@ Alastair, Alex Fixed the typo, thanks for the po...

2011-06-01T15:28:44.953+02:00

@ Alastair, Alex
Fixed the typo, thanks for the pointer Alastair. The Dutch word 'of' means 'or'. Probably why I missed it.

Presumably it should be 'or', not 'of&...

2011-06-01T15:08:49.603+02:00

Presumably it should be 'or', not 'of'.

In the UK we've had chip-based terminals for years, and I've never noticed people leaving their cards in them. Nor have I come close to doing that myself.

The interaction is such that you put your card in, put your number in, and then is says in big letters "PLEASE REMOVE CARD". Then the person behind the till hands you your receipt.

Taking the card isn't the end of the process, so it hasn't been a problem here.

Not sure which typo you are referring to. Help me ...

2011-06-01T14:35:31.738+02:00

Not sure which typo you are referring to. Help me out? ;-)

Article title typo?

2011-06-01T14:33:49.091+02:00

Article title typo?

Great example of important nuances in design.

2011-06-01T14:32:14.676+02:00

Great example of important nuances in design.