Tried chip readers back in 2015 vs swiping. Chip still feels slower.

I remember when my bank first sent me a chip card in 2015. I was at a Target in Austin and the terminal took like 10 seconds to process. Swiping was maybe 2 seconds max. Fast forward to now and chip readers are still slower at some gas stations here. I get the security upgrade but the speed trade off is hard to swallow. Has anyone else noticed certain stores where the chip reader just drags?

3 comments

3 Comments

cora5183d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, that gas station on Main Street sounds exactly like the Shell station on Elm near my place in Portland. Takes a solid 18 seconds I counted once while standing there feeling dumb. I actually started using the mobile app for that gas station just to avoid the chip reader altogether. But last week I tapped my card at a different Shell and it worked great, so now I'm wondering if some readers are just older models or something. Reminds me of when I first got a credit card in 1998 and the cashier had to use that little carbon paper machine to imprint the numbers. That took forever too but we didn't know any better back then.

michaeld483d ago

The gas station near my house on Main Street is the worst - takes a good 15 seconds to process the chip. I just swipe at the pump there now and it works fine. For regular stores, I tap my card or phone if they have it and that speeds things up a lot.

stone.lisa3d ago

oh man, i totally feel that. the other day i was at this drugstore and the chip reader was so slow i honestly thought it froze. i just stood there staring at the screen like come on already. but then i accidentally tapped my card on the wrong part of the reader and it worked instantly so now i just tap everywhere even if it looks like a swipe slot. works like half the time. beats waiting forever though.