It’s great until it gets stolen. Again my gas credit cards used to work the same way, then it dawned on them that if people’s wallets got stolen the thief was free to use the credit cards since there was no level of verification that the card was in the possession of the owner. Gas stations backed away from that and now require you enter your zip (which of course is also on your license so it’s not that great a security measure). If anybody goes to no-sign no-pin they’ll go back when people’s cards get stolen. Contactless only only sounds like a good idea until you remember thieves.
It worked fine for me and I used it several years. Apple is going to go that way and I think you’ll see them going into the payment systems in a big way.
There’s always a transition period, and we’re in it now, while the changes are made. As I said, it’s already been out into effect in a limited way and I used it without any trouble.
Right now, as we speak, I go to QuikTrip and just today, one of the workers there said that they’ve gone to completely “sign-less” for $50 — and that’s on the old cards, not the new ones. Well, heck, that covers just about everything for one trip ... :-) ...
Basically ANYONE could grab someone’s card and buy stuff there, no questions asked.
However, the person who has the account is protected, because if something is stolen or missing, you call it in and your money is put right back in your account. That’s an old card or a new card.
With the guaranteed money back in case of fraud, people are going to have no problem using them.