I agree with the "it's a private business" argument for a lot of things but not the thing where you put money to pay taxes, buy food, etc so it doesn't get stolen
@sun So are supermarkets not private businesses because they're where you buy from?
@arcana food isn't a fungible unit of economic exchange required for all tasks
@sun I mean again, you can just use another bank, money services business, or even just cash.
@arcana we have like three big banks in the USA, we have a couple credit card companies, they are a chokepoint and our government abuses it to punish people already
@sun Over here even the supermarkets are setting up banks and Credit Cards
It's crazy to me that the US doesn't seem to have instant and free bank transfers too, and you don't seem to use chip and PIN in stores
It's crazy to me that the US doesn't seem to have instant and free bank transfers too, and you don't seem to use chip and PIN in stores
@arcana yeah we don't have chip and pin, it's idiotic. we have chip and signature
@beardalaxy @arcana debit cards have a pin, credit cards are rarer
@sun @arcana @beardalaxy When I arrived to the U.S., 25 years ago, and when the Discover Card was still a thing, thay would give a debit card to anyone with a pulse, while you had to have a credit to obtain a credit card. For that reason, debit cards were for the lower classes, who could not be trusted with credit cards. I went to some lengths to get a credit card through my CU, and my limit was $300. This is obviously no longer the situation, of course, but nonetheless many people (like myself) consider debit cards beneath their station. So, no PINs for us!
A waitress with a little machine happens from time to time. It really depends on how Europhillic the restaurant owner is.
Another thing restaurants experiment with is a payment with a QR code on the bill (startups like Toast do that). The advantage of the payment with the code is that you don't have to wait for the staff to make their rounds. But the problem is, the worst wait is for the bill (aka "check") itself, when you're done eating. And the QR code does nothing to address that wait. So I saw some restaurants try and withdraw that payment method.
The low rank sit-down restaurants like Olive Garden and Outback have payment stations on tables now (they call them "kiosks"). These "kiosks" have a bright LED bar on top that turns green once you paid. Kinda dystopian, but at least they aren't forcing an app on you.
A waitress with a little machine happens from time to time. It really depends on how Europhillic the restaurant owner is.
Another thing restaurants experiment with is a payment with a QR code on the bill (startups like Toast do that). The advantage of the payment with the code is that you don't have to wait for the staff to make their rounds. But the problem is, the worst wait is for the bill (aka "check") itself, when you're done eating. And the QR code does nothing to address that wait. So I saw some restaurants try and withdraw that payment method.
The low rank sit-down restaurants like Olive Garden and Outback have payment stations on tables now (they call them "kiosks"). These "kiosks" have a bright LED bar on top that turns green once you paid. Kinda dystopian, but at least they aren't forcing an app on you.
