Shower 
thought. We call in contactless yet we always seem to make contact with the reader 
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I know what you mean! From now on I am going to make a special effort not to make contact.
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This is because the name refers to lack of electrical contact, not lack of physical contact.
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No need to take the fun out of everything 
Depends on your idea of fun, surely? Personally I find it quite fun, and magical, that we can power up a tiny little radio using induction alone, have a cryptographically provable exchange of account data in under half a second, and approve money coming out of our bank account within 2-3 seconds.
Thatās fun. And magic. Imagine even explaining it to people 100 years ago!
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Yes. The name is more marketing nonsense.
Maybe itās me being a millennial and used to a digital age etc. but I donāt really care about security or which is more risky, as long as I use the most convenient option. The way I see it I could be robbed or pickpocketed anyway or my cards cloned at ATMs/ details leaked online, so why should I actively stop using contactless for transactions when it saves so much time? Theyāve finally brought it to public transport where I live and I love it. I hate handling cash or touching filthy PIN pads.
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If I think purely personally, I use Apple Pay for any contactless payments, which will be coming soon. Therefore no point in the contactless in the card, and if itās even slightly more secure, why not?
Real talk!
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Contactless is actually the technical name, referring to the lack of electrical contact. The marketing names have been eliminated but were: PayPass, ExpressPay, PayWave, and Zip (plus a few others too for other schemes).
The term contactless has nothing to do with physical contact (which you technically donāt need either, but you have to get so close itās easier to just touch the darn thing).
Exactly. And think what it replaces. Cash, more than contact chip transactions. Itās far faster and more secure than cash.
This I tend to agree with, I see less need for contactless cards than ever before personally - but mobile payment adoption is rather poor actually.
You donāt need to keep recharging Contactless cards.
Towards the end of the day itās not unusual for a phone to run out of power.
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I wish I could get to the end of the day. I have a Nextbit Robin. Not known for battery 
but I just carry a 10,000 mAh battery pack to compensate.
I agree with this, but would like to add that it would be annoying to key in my PIN on transport- imagine how long it would take if everyone stopped to type their PIN at metro gantries or on the bus? I imagine this could be solved if everyone switched to Apple/Android pay but I know a lot of people who personally prefer to use a card. And my phone may run out of battery because I use it for more than 10h everyday (I bring a portable charger too, like you) so Iād rather just have my contactless-enabled card with me.
I think the only thing I miss about them not accepting cards on buses is that they donāt let you on for free anymore when they donāt have change 
I donāt know how difficult it is to have an option to disable contactless, but it sounds like a pain. I think Iāve seen some tutorials on how to disable it by cutting the card or something? seems a bit risky though.
Absolutely! People like to talk about how insecure things are, but they really justā¦ arenāt. Theyāre so much more secure than cash (which canāt be shut down if lost, has no fraud protection guarantees, etc).
The US once had magstripe buses. I know Nashville, TN had them - but they quit taking cards because fraud (which could be charged back - everything was deferred authorisation and the US is a zero floor limit country, so the bus operator took the risk) was so rampant. This just canāt happen with modern (EMV-mode) contactless.
Android Pay actually allows No CVM for under Ā£30 in the UK market, specifically to allow things like public transit without having to unlock the phone. Apple Pay ALWAYS requires PIN or fingerprint, even if the transaction itself runs with no CVM technically. Which makes Apple Pay way more annoying for transit - a fingerprint misread waiting at a Tube barrierā¦ or on a bus when your hands are wet/gloved.
I assume you mean not accepting cash - and Iāve been allowed on free plenty of times when the card readers havenāt worked!
Cutting into the card is suspicious, and merchants can/should (but probably wonāt) refuse to accept a card thatās been intentionally damaged like that (since such damage could be seen as the genuine owner wanting to void it).
Disabling on the back-end is easier tho. Online contactless can be disabled immediately, and since Monzo goes online when possible, this should block the vast majority of contactless payments. Offline can then be disabled by issuer script at the next online contact transaction (as long as that transaction is not an M/Chip Fast transaction, but as those are only allowed in the US market, that is unlikely).
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Before Iād seen your post, I realised that Iād popped out without the joint account debit card. (I donāt normally carry it). I thought thatās ok, because the card is in the wallet on my iPhone.
Get to the checkout:
- take phone from pocket
- unlock phone (easier with Face ID)
- navigate to wallet
- open wallet
- select RBS card
- wrong one. Select the other one (no way to differentiate cards on different accounts with same bank)
- place phone on card reader
- double tap side button
- Try and stick my face over the phone to make sure it worked
- worry about not hearing a confirmation of payment
What a convoluted process.
Much easier to take wallet from Pocket, take card from wallet and place it on the card reader. And it didnāt need to be charged up before I left the house.
I can see how Apple Pay can be useful, ā¦and Iām one to embrace new technology, but the fact is sometimes technology is just a solution looking for a problem that isnāt there.
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Iāve never found using it nearly so complex as what you just described, though I can see why the iPhone X makes it much worse. On older iPhones, it was much easier - double tap home button when locked, tap the card you want to use, touch the home button to scan finger. A couple seconds, tops.
First time Iād used it on iPhone. That is the process. Using a piece of plastic that doesnāt need a battery has advantages!
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Is there no wallet shortcut like on older iPhones (double-tap home button)?
And Iām not denying that, not at all. I think both are good options for different people depending on whatās easier for you. My wallet is inevitably buried at the bottom of my handbag or backpack all the time, so Android Pay is easier for me.
There is no home button on iPhone X.
Double tapping on/off side button brings up wallet. ā¦but Iāve only just discovered that. Didnāt have time to find that out at the checkout.
Iāll try it again sometime with that method. Should be a bit quicker.
I maintain a card is easier.
For you, certainly. Iād never deny that itās easier for some people, just as Iād hope you wouldnāt deny that mobile payment is easier for me. Habits affect ease greatly.