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Has anyone used Square (or another wireless credit card reader) at cons?

Started by JazzMan,

25 posts in this topic

JazzMan

JazzMan

Posted
Posted

I just saw that PayPal is also getting into the biz in direct competition with Square, the upstart firm that stated it all. They are advertising low cost (2.7%) rates for card readers that work on smart phones and iPads. With the prevalence of wireless devices in convention centers (and other ComicCon locales), has anyone actually used these and how effective/easy are they?

 

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Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer

Posted
Posted
I would not purchace from anyone using a wireless device to prosess my credit card through a cell phone ?

No cord / no phone line / no encription / no buy !

 

 

They use them at restaurants all the time now? They come to your table with a wireless terminal. (shrug)

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Trev

Trev

Posted
Posted
I would not purchace from anyone using a wireless device to prosess my credit card through a cell phone ?

No cord / no phone line / no encription / no buy !

 

 

completely agree with this. Last year I did one transaction at SDCC with a guy using a wireless device and my CC number was stolen and sold.

 

I don't have direct data that connects the two, but it was the ONLY CC transaction I did, it was wireless, and like 3 days later my card was buying in brazil.

 

Plus, I've seen some news reports where guys can walk around and pull CC number out of the air using simple software.

 

From now on, if it's not on a terminal, then it won't happen. I'd rather try paypal on the spot than this.

 

btw, there's a paypal app for your smartphone now. and that's secure.

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underthebigw

underthebigw

Posted
Posted
I would not purchace from anyone using a wireless device to prosess my credit card through a cell phone ?

No cord / no phone line / no encription / no buy !

 

 

They use them at restaurants all the time now? They come to your table with a wireless terminal. (shrug)

 

Yep, far, far safer than giving your card to a server who then walks into another room or behind a serving station wall to run your card (perhaps multiple times).

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JazzMan

JazzMan

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I can't see how these would be putting consumers at risk if the data is not encrypted. I suspect that whoever got Trev's data probably got it through another means other than a smartphone app. You can never tell these days, but from what I've seen so far, these apps looks pretty secure.

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gcstomp

gcstomp

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Love Square. Swipe, have customer sign with their finger on screen, take a pic of sold item, punch in a quickie item description. Customer gets an emailed receipt showing their signature, pic + description of item, even will have a little google map showing where charge took place. Wish every transaction I had in life had such a complete record.

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

Posted
Posted
I would not purchace from anyone using a wireless device to prosess my credit card through a cell phone ?

No cord / no phone line / no encription / no buy !

 

 

They use them at restaurants all the time now? They come to your table with a wireless terminal. (shrug)

 

Yep, far, far safer than giving your card to a server who then walks into another room or behind a serving station wall to run your card (perhaps multiple times).

 

Came to say this. I've had my credit card information stolen like this. As a matter of fact, my CC information has been stolen 3 times - every time it's been by giving the card to someone or over the phone.

 

I trust sending my credit card information unsecured over email before I would trust giving it to my server at Applebees.

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Stronguy

Stronguy

Posted
Posted
I would not purchace from anyone using a wireless device to prosess my credit card through a cell phone ?

No cord / no phone line / no encription / no buy !

 

 

They use them at restaurants all the time now? They come to your table with a wireless terminal. (shrug)

 

Yep, far, far safer than giving your card to a server who then walks into another room or behind a serving station wall to run your card (perhaps multiple times).

 

Came to say this. I've had my credit card information stolen like this. As a matter of fact, my CC information has been stolen 3 times - every time it's been by giving the card to someone or over the phone.

 

I trust sending my credit card information unsecured over email before I would trust giving it to my server at Applebees.

 

CC info is NEVER safe. There are dozens of ways to get your CC info so it's pretty much up to you to keep an eye on it every month. Contest what you didn't charge... be done with it.

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Stronguy

Stronguy

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BTW, when we used it at the 'Toon Tumbler booth in SD last year it was great... right up to the time people started overloading the cellular data network. Voice service worked great but texts would take 20 minutes to get delivered. There was one purchase where we had to swipe the card at least 50 times before it went through.

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paradigmcomics

paradigmcomics

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My wife has been using Intuit GoPayment which includes a credit card swiper that connects to the earphone port at the top of any iPhone. You connect the device and then use there app. The card swiper itself has worked with no issues. We've only faced issues on the backend, after the number is captured, with processing on certain scenarios.

 

Most convention centers have HORRIBLE cellular reception so you have to worry about that when using this method.

 

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

Posted
Posted
I would not purchace from anyone using a wireless device to prosess my credit card through a cell phone ?

No cord / no phone line / no encription / no buy !

 

 

They use them at restaurants all the time now? They come to your table with a wireless terminal. (shrug)

 

Yep, far, far safer than giving your card to a server who then walks into another room or behind a serving station wall to run your card (perhaps multiple times).

 

Came to say this. I've had my credit card information stolen like this. As a matter of fact, my CC information has been stolen 3 times - every time it's been by giving the card to someone or over the phone.

 

I trust sending my credit card information unsecured over email before I would trust giving it to my server at Applebees.

 

CC info is NEVER safe. There are dozens of ways to get your CC info so it's pretty much up to you to keep an eye on it every month. Contest what you didn't charge... be done with it.

 

Absolutely. Gone is the time you can check on your statements once a month. I log in to my online banking at least 10 times a week for various purposes, mostly to keep an eye on things.

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paradigmcomics

paradigmcomics

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For all that are paranoid check this out:

 

 

Pretty interesting video.

 

I had seen a previous video where Walt, the guy featured in the segment above, shows how he could steal credit card numbers using RFID, the same technology used in the devices where you just swipe your card in front of it, not pass it through a reader. I've only seen that technology used in a few fast food spots and mainly in gas stations. There was also a time where my local Einstein Bagels was using it but they seem to have dropped it.

 

Anyway, this new video he shows he can steal credit card numbers using NFC. NFC is a feature that powers Apps like Google Wallet. Using the NFC you can pull a credit card number from a wifi enabled credit card. It's intended so that you can add your credit card number to an app like Google Wallet, but obviously it can be misused.

 

Anyway, check it out.

 

Also if you have a Wifi enabled credit card (It'll have the Wifi logo (the little bars) on the back, near where you sign) wrap it in aluminum foil.

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